Quietus
by Delaney Trask
Summary: Siblings Olivia and Tony had been travelling the country before everything changed when the dead began walking. Family is always there for one another so they vow to do anything to find their baby brother in Atlanta-instead finding a rag-tag group of survivors who quickly prove to be just like family. But every family has their problems... Eventual Daryl/OC...
1. First Blood

**FIRST BLOOD**

**qui·e·tus: **_/__kwīˈēdəs/ __noun - __death or something that causes death, regarded as a release from life._

* * *

It all started with a few fucked up stories on T.V. Stories of people eating each other, stories of the dead walking just like one of those messed up horror movies. At first Olivia thought it was just some druggie's experiment gone wrong—like they mixed krokodil and bath salts and it resulted in some sort of zombie thing. But then the stories started spreading; you couldn't flip to any station without the headliner being about the biters. This time Olivia thought it was just a joke—like the War of the Worlds prank in '38. Frankly, she went on disbelieving right until she saw her very first walker. Zombies? That was something that only happened in movies!

Olivia and her brother, Anthony—Tony—had been at a diner in Intercourse, Pennsylvania; the town they had been staying in. They had been travelling the country together and couldn't resist staying in Intercourse to replenish their funds—at times they had the maturity of a fourteen year old, pubescent boy.

They had just been sitting down to lunch when all of a sudden there was a huge commotion out on the street. A horse from a horse and carriage ride was spooked and was rearing up. People were screaming and running around like it was Black Friday. Tony and Olivia had leapt up to see what was going on and that was when they saw the dead man.

It was limping towards the hoards of screaming people—fresh blood dripping from its slack jaw. Its skin was an ashen grey, and eerie yellow eyes shown out from its skull. It was missing an arm but that didn't slow it down.

"What the fuck?" Tony yelled, grabbing Olivia's arm—not sure whether to yank her away to safety or for his own comfort.

"Is that one of those zombies? Like the ones on the news?" She asked, horror in her voice, watching as the biter limped forward through the streets—trying to catch one of the fleeing people. Olivia couldn't believe her eyes. This had to be some kind of joke.

Tony nodded—his eyes never leaving the thing. "What the _fuck?"_

They stayed there in the diner—frozen as the dead man continued to limp around the now-empty street. There were others; also holed up in buildings unsure of what to do. Slowly, the zombie raised its head and began sniffing and turned its head towards the diner. Olivia realized it could smell the living as it began limping towards them—nose in the air.

Someone screamed next to her, and a waiter hurriedly shushed them up. Tony grabbed the door—slamming it shut. "What the fuck!" He was at a loss for words.

A man next to Olivia swore. "We shoot it in the head! That's what the news was saying. Shot in the head, they're sure to stay dead!" He was screaming.

"Well, you got a gun on you, then?" Olivia snapped, turning to the older man who shook his head vehemently. She was terrified but put on a brave face. "Good thing I do." Dad had taught her and her brother's to always pack heat, and she knew better than to ignore his advice. She pulled out her glock and joined Tony by the door, as the dead man got closer. "Fella back there says a shot to the head does it."

"Give it here then, I'll take care of it." Tony snatched her glock out of her hands and swung open the door—delivering a precision shot to the thing's forehead. He had served overseas and knew his way around a gun fairly well. They watched as the biter fell backwards to the ground—thick blood leaking from the bullet hole.

Once all the commotion had died down, the siblings hurried home to their rented house on the outskirts of town. "We got to call Jared." Tony said and Olivia agreed. Jared, their baby brother, had been in Atlanta, Georgia working through his third year of residency with his heart set on surgery. It had been a while since Tony and Olivia had talked to him—there had been a fight last time they saw him, nearly two years ago. "If he knows what's best, he'll get the hell out of dodge."

But he hadn't answered the phone and his cellphone was out of service. A fact that unnerved Tony and Olivia. They had heard from the news that Atlanta had been one of the first cities hit. Intercourse was a small town. If even had a couple of Biters… what was a big city like Atlanta like? They could only hope that Jared got out while he could.

"We have to go there." Olivia told Tony after the third call went to voicemail.

He nodded. "We'll leave tomorrow morning. How bad do you think this is? Should we stock up on supplies? Loot the stores like in the movies?"

Olivia rolled my eyes at her big brother. "It was only one rotter, and it was awful slow. How bad could it be?"

Despite her indifferent demeanor, Olivia barely slept that night. She woke at the sound of every little noise, gripping the cool metal of her gun under her pillow nervously. At one point she thought she heard helicopters and gunshots.

* * *

When morning finally came, it brought the apocalypse with it. They had loaded up their '70 Chevy Caprice with every gun they owned—rifles and shotguns, their Dad liked to go hunting with before he died—and every non-perishable they could find. They had decided on stocking up on supplies just in case and as they drove into town it was like walking into a horror movie. There were cars abandoned everywhere—some of them burning from crashing. Cars had smashed into buildings, into street lamps, into other cars. The road was littered with debris and the air smoldering with ashes. Rotters limped in between the damaged cars.

Olivia found the bodies to be the worst. All around there were Rotters grouped and feeding frantically from the intestines of some poor bastard. Blood was splattered everywhere and ravens were circling above. She gagged and slunk down in her sear—averting her eyes and taking deep breaths as they drove past the carnage. She could _smell _the stale flesh already.

"It's only been one night, right?" Tony asked bracingly as he swerved around an abandoned car—catching the attention of the dead. This wasn't the first time he had seen such levels of chaos before, it wasn't as shocking to him as it was to Olivia.

Olivia nodded numbly. "Holy shit. How the fuck did this happen? They move so slow."

"Rule 1: Cardio, eh?" Tony said, trying to make a joke but it just sat there in the air, unsettling them. "The news said it only takes one scratch."

They drove in silence. How had this happened? Why wasn't the government doing anything? This had to be some kind of nightmare, Olivia told herself. She'll wake up tomorrow and Tony will make fun of her for watching too many scary movies. But, when she pinched herself, she was still sitting in the Caprice. Rotters were still everywhere. People were still dying. She wanted to puke and cry all at the same time. Her breath was coming in painful to her chest. Tony reached over and put a calming hand on her arm but she cringed away. _How pathetic was she—having a panic attack? Grow some balls, Liv._

"Bunch of them are following us." Tony mumbled after a while, looking in the rear-view mirror.

"So speed up." She whispered back condescendingly and he did, leaving the Rotters in the distance. "We need to fuel up. Maybe fill up a couple of jerry cans while we can still pump gas. Take all we can get from the store?"

"You got any money?"

"You think we're going to need it?" She snapped back looking at all the debris and bodies.

Tony sighed ignoring his sister's irritable mood—he was used to it. "I honestly hope so. Do you think this is going to last long?"

"You mean; is the apocalypse permanent?" Tony nodded. "Look around Tony. Seems pretty end of days to me. If the Government was going to do something, they'd have done it." They both winced as the car crunched over broken glass and what they prayed was a speed bump.

"Suppose we'll take it day by day then." Tony said optimistically. "Focus on findin' Jared."

"We will find him, Tony." Olivia reassured him, before flipping on the radio—only to find static. "How the hell did this happen overnight?"

"Maybe a hoard of 'em went through?" It was a suggestion but neither of them believed it. Yesterday everything was fine and dandy and today the town was leveled. Things like that don't happen without a warning. "Flip around a bit. There's gotta be somethin'."

Olivia played around with the radio as they continued to drive to the store. Occasionally they would pass another car—filled with living people and it made her give a sigh of relief. They weren't alone. Finally, as they pulled into the parking lot—where there were dozens of other cars filled with other looters, she managed to get to a transmitting station. "—Martial law is now under effect. Citizens are urged to go to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where camps are set up to offer food and shelter. Further questions will be answered there. Do not approach the living dead. If you are bit, there is no hope. A shot to the head is the only thing that will stop the dead. Try to keep quiet, noise attracts the dead. Citizens are urged to remain calm. Shelter is—" it repeated and Olivia cut it off. Tony and her sighed at the message—it told them nothing.

"Guess we should get in there before everythin' is gone." Tony grumbled wedging the door open and grabbing a rifle.

Olivia quickly grabbed her glock and followed after him. Luckily, there were no Rotters around—her guess was that the majority of people were focused on fleeing and the dead had followed _them_.

"Want to split up in there? Cover more ground?" Tony questioned, as they got closer to the doors—grabbing a shopping cart.

"Sure. You go to the sporting goods section, grab what you can. I'll head to the pantry. Meet in medicine in ten minutes?" She decided, also grabbing a shopping cart.

"Sounds good, kiddo. Be careful. Could get a little nuts in there."

"Back at you, Tony."

As they entered and went they separate ways she noticed other groups of people loitering around. There were bodies of Rotters scattered around the isles. As Olivia suspected, she wouldn't be needing cash—there were no cashiers working. She had to laugh; a few of the looters were smashing open the tills and filling their pockets with money. What they needed it for now she had no idea.

Olivia bypassed some women grabbing fruit and got to the pantry—filling the cart with any non-perishables she could get a grasp on. There was surprisingly a lot on the shelves still—the nice thing about being in a small town hit so suddenly.

After ten minutes her cart was full of granola bars, cereal, canned food, and water bottles. She pushed the heavy cart to pharmacy, pulling another empty one behind her.

Tony was already there throwing first aid supplies into his already full cart. He nodded as Olivia approached and began shoving supplies into her empty cart. She quickly headed to the feminine hygiene section and began grabbing what she could—Tony would make fun of her, but they would come in use.

The cart was nearly full and Olivia looked over at the pharmacy. "I'm going to go back there. Get the good stuff." Tony nodded as he shoved condoms in the cart (Olivia rolled her eyes at him—he wouldn't need those).

The door was surprisingly unlocked and Olivia began stuffing drugs into her bag. She had moved onto the 'E' section when she heard groaning. Panicked Olivia spun around to see a Rotter emerging from behind a shelf. It dead eyes were trained on her as it shuffled over to her. It was wearing a white coat—the pharmacist. _He must have been bit by a supposed customer._

She let out a startled scream and fell back in her shock—jarring her shoulder harshly against the shelf she had been raiding and causing pills to fall to the floor. She began crawling away from it as she frantically fumbled at her side for her glock. It picked up it's pace and Olivia only managed to fire off a round into his head before it grabbed her. His thick gooey blood spilled onto her shirt as he came crashing down on top of her. She let out a disgusted scream; trying to push him off. It had stopped moving—a small relief.

"Olivia!" Tony yelled as he came crashing into the room.

"Tony!" She sobbed—terrified. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

Tony rushed forward and yanked the biter off and Olivia jerked away into the corner, grasping my knees as she cried. "Holy shit, Tony." She sobbed.

Tony was silent as he fired off another round into the thing's head. For good measure and as punishment for attacking his sister. He then rushed over to Olivia's side and yanked her into his arms. "You're okay now, Liv. Did it bite you?"

She shook her head as she cried into his shoulder. He stroked her hair and rocked her back and forth. "You're okay." He mumbled repeatedly. Tony squeezed her tightly—reassuring himself that she _was_ okay. That had been too close.

After what felt like years Olivia finally stopped crying. Still shaken, She pulled away. "We should probably go." She hiccoughed—wanting to be anywhere but here. She looked awkwardly at the ground—ashamed of her meltdown. She felt _weak._

Tony jumped to his feet and helped her up, giving her hand an assuring squeeze. He darted about grabbing and throwing seemingly random drugs into the cart—Olivia helped him. "Let's go grab you some clothes."

They hurried out—their filled carts in tow—and grabbed an armful of clothes. Olivia changed in the bathroom and scrubbed her arms raw as she stared at her too pale complexion. She was beating herself up over her hysterical crying session. The world was ending—it was no time to freak out. She could almost hear her Dad sneering at her 'Toughen up, girl. I ain't got time for sniveling babies'.

When she felt somewhat clean Olivia joined Tony and they stuffed all of their stolen goods into the Caprice—somehow leaving room to see out the back.

"You okay?" Tony asked giving her arm a squeeze.

"I'm fine." She snapped, more to herself than Tony. He shot her a tortured look and she softened her gaze. "I will be once we find Jared."

He stuffed himself into the driver's seat and nodded. "Then let's get a move on."

_Hold on Jared. We're on our way._ Olivia promised to herself as she frowned out the window—trying to get the feeling of dead flesh out of her mind. _Just hold on._


	2. Guns for Hire

**GUNS FOR HIRE**

* * *

Atlanta was about twelve hours away. Olivia and Tony could make it in one day if they took turns driving—but Tony never let anyone else drive. The Caprice was his pride and joy and nobody was going to drive his baby but him—apocalypse be damned. So they planned to do the drive in two days. Three tops.

However, it was weeks later before they managed to get anywhere close to Georgia. Roads were locked with abandoned cars and Rotters drifting between the wreckage—pulling at the dead flesh trapped in the cars. It was difficult to get anywhere.

As they entered Georgia it was evident it was an area hit first—maybe weeks before. Where as in Pennsylvania there were groups of Rotters, Georgia had hoards. Hoards that would take hours to pass completely. Olivia and Tony would pass them on dying highways. Occasionally they would stick the car in a ditch and lay low until they passed. Olivia had grown somewhat accustomed to them—they no longer caused her to want to break down and cry. They made her angry instead.

Freeways were jammed with cars—abandoned or filled with the bodies of those unable to escape—an image imprinted in my memory. It took a while just to get through all the piled up cars, but they were able to siphon gas out of them so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

The radios had stopped working a long time ago and finding a place with power was a ridiculous thought. Seeing other cars with living people was becoming rare. The closer they got to Atlanta, the less they saw. Roads became more locked up and the size of hoards grew. There tended to be more hoards in areas around major cities, which unnerved Tony. They would only be leaving the cities if there was nothing left to eat. Which he hoped wasn't the case.

Thinking about Jared made them nervous. The hoards were huge and Olivia couldn't even begin to imagine what sizes there were in Atlanta. But Jared was smart, and like Tony and Olivia, he knew his way around a gun. He would have gotten out of town while the going was good. He just had to. But it was the first place they had to look.

A month after the siblings left Pennsylvania they finally saw the sign that declared Atlanta in ten miles. Tony had been getting antsy as they drove through hoards and Olivia was just plain irritable. They didn't know how much longer they could survive _each other_ let alone the Zombies. Either way, Atlanta was a welcome sight—despite the monsters contained within its city limits.

Olivia and Tony weren't idiots, however. They weren't about to go blazing into the city with no plan. Atlanta was a big city with lots of people. No doubt most of those people were Rotters now. The hospital that Jared was working in was deeper in the city so they needed an escape plan. And they wanted to use as little bullets as possible. Tony had stocked up back in Lancaster County but they had a feeling bullets were going to become a rare commodity. It was best to save them if they could.

Tony pulled off into the woods—keeping out of view of the road—and laid out their map on the hood of the Caprice. The two argued their way around the city—debating which route and tactics were best to take. Tony was mostly concerned that the Rotters were going to scratch the Caprice. He was determined to steal a more sturdy truck to get to the hospital.

They didn't really know Atlanta—only have been there a couple of times in the past. All their plans were guesses at best. The map was a couple of years old and things could have changed. Hell, Jared could have switched hospitals without telling them. They didn't have a lot to go on.

But they had learned a thing or two on the way here. There had been a few close encounters on the road and they had come out all the wiser for them. For instance, Tony had been out scanning for supplies on a jammed highway when a small group of Rotters went by. One on its own Tony could handle—but not five, and gunshot would just draw in more. He grabbed the body of woman he saw by a car and pulled it on top of him—gagging at the scent. The Rottters had stopped their pursuit and moved on—as if Tony had never been there. Rotters paid no attention to the _dead._

Throughout their journey they learned a few rudimentary rules for Zombies 101.

Suddenly, a loud ringing echoed throughout the valley—a car alarm. Tony and Olivia gaped at each other, as the noise got louder. They watched, stunned, as a flash of red dashed by on the road away from the city followed by a white van. "What the fuck? Are they stupid?" Tony grumbled, shaking his head.

"You don't think Jared would be with them, do you?"

Tony rolled his eyes, packing up the map. "Jared's not an idiot. But it's worth a try, I guess. Probably a long shot."

Olivia nodded, getting in the passenger side. "Shit, they're gonna attract all the Rotters in the valley." The car alarm was still ringing.

"Idiots." Tony agreed, pulling back onto the road and following the sound of the car. It eventually stopped but by that point the gravel road only went in one direction. It wasn't long until they pulled up behind the white van.

"They're having a nice reunion." Tony smirked as he looked at the group of people hugging and kissing. "Nice to see living people, though."

The people were turning towards the newcomers now, curious and defensive. More than one reached for their weapons. "Come out with our hands up?" Olivia asked with humor and Tony shrugged.

They got out of the Caprice, their hands up in the air showing they had no weapons. "We come in peace!" Tony attempted a joke.

"Who the hell are you?" A man with a blue-purple shirt and cargo pants yelled, his gun trained on the siblings.

"I'm Olivia Bridges and this here is my brother, Anthony—"

"—Tony—" Her brother interrupted.

Olivia shot him a withering look before continuing. "—Tony. Um, we heard your car and we followed you. We're looking for our brother, Jared. Big guy about yay high—" She gestured a good foot over her own head. "He was working in Atlanta before all this happened."

An older man wearing a hat stepped forward shaking his head. "No, sorry. No one here matching that description."

She sighed to Tony and gave him a disappointed look. "It was a long shot." He said.

"Yeah. So, Atlanta, then?" He nodded.

The Asian boy heard them mumbling and gave the newcomers an incredulous look. "You're not going to the city, are you? Are you stupid? It's swarming with geeks!"

"—Geeks?" Tony muttered, chuckling.

Olivia gave the boy a hard look. "Who are you calling stupid? You're the one driving around with the car alarm fuckin' blarin'!"

A man dressed as a sheriff cleared his throat—his arms around a pretty brunette and a young boy. "Why don't we all calm down? We just came from Atlanta. Barely got out. It's best if you just avoided the city."

"We need to find our brother." Olivia shot back heatedly.

The other group exchanged looks—doubting that siblings would find Jared alive. "Why don't you stay here until you figure something out?" The old man suggested.

"They can't stay here! We don't even know them!" Purple shirt raged.

Tony and Olivia exchanged looks—a private argument with their eyes. "We have a trunk full of guns. And a back seat full of food." Tony offered after a while and Olivia huffed out angrily. She didn't want to stick around with this group—she wanted to go look for Jared.

The majority of the group seemed willing to let them join but purple shirt was not convinced. "Are you people crazy? We don't even know them!"

Tony shook his head angrily. "Geeze, buddy, what the hell do you think we're gonna do? Plunder your village and rape your women? We ain't like that. 'Sides, the living got to stick together nowadays."

The man didn't look entirely convinced but as he looked at the others who were nodding he gave in. "Fine, but if something happens it's on your head, Dale." He told the old man.

"Thank you." Tony said as graciously as she could. Olivia and him moved forward to greet the group, making sure to leave behind their weapons. Olivia didn't want to encourage any negative impressions. They were already walking on thin ice. Which confused Olivia to no end. She couldn't understand that in a world full of dead men walking, the living would be so distrustful and resentful towards other living people.

Olivia and Tony passed the van and the red car came into view. "Wow, Dodge Challenger SRT8. She's a beauty." Olivia remarked to the group closest to her—two blonde women, the Asian kid, and a small family.

The Asian gave a fervid nod. "I know, right! Never drove a thing like that in my life! I'm Glenn, by the way. Glenn Rhee."

"Olivia." She smiled at him—the ice in her veins melting. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to stick around for a bit—at least until they got a plan.

'Where did you two come from before all this went down?"

Tony, hearing the question, gave a huge cheesy smile to the boy. "Intercourse, P.A."

Tony chuckled at the weird look the boy gave him. "Seriously?" One of the blondes said with a smirk. "Intercourse?"

Laughing, Olivia rolled her eyes at the girl. "Yeah. We're actually fourteen." Laughter spread through the group and Olivia felt weight lift off her shoulders. Laughter was the first step to being accepted by these people.

The old man—Dale—from before was shuffling over to Olivia and Tony. "Why don't we get you settled in? You have any tents? Everyone is set up over the hill there."

"We'll sleep in the car, tonight. Don't want to get settled in if we are leaving soon. Like we said, we want to find our brother." Tony said.

"You still got your hearts set on Atlanta, eh?" Tony nodded at the man who just shook his head. "Well at least let me give you a tour and introduce you to everyone."

Tony shrugged in agreement and let the old man guide them around. They met everyone, but only a few stuck out. The two blondes—Andrea and Amy. The family—Morales, Miranda, Eliza, and Louis. The reunited family—Rick, Lori, and Carl. The timid family—Carol, Ed, and Sophia. The angry man—Shane. The big black man—T-Dog. The others—Jacqui and Jim. There was another man they had yet to meet—Daryl Dixon, who was apparently out hunting and had been the last couple days.

The group of Atlanta survivors was a group of misfits thrown together. In Olivia's opinion, they didn't have a great chance of surviving. Only a few seemed to know how to work weapons and even less knew how to live off the land. Things were pretty bleak for them.

The sun was setting and people were setting up campfires and settling in around them. Olivia and Tony joined the main group around the low burning fire as everyone began asking Rick questions as he cuddled with his family.

Apparently before the world turned to shit, he had been a police officer. That was pretty obvious from the clothes and hat he wore. He had been shot while on duty and had been in a coma ever since. Imagine his surprise when he woke up to find everything and everyone dead.

"—Disorientated. I guess that comes closest." Rick said, describing how felt waking up to the end of the world. "Disorientated. Fear, confusion all those things but, disorientated comes closest."

All around everyone looked down—remembering their own feelings. "Words are meager things." Dale said. "Sometimes they fall short."

Rick continued. "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life, and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

Carl looked up at his Dad from his lap. "Mom said you died."

Rick and Lori exchanged meaningful glances. There was so much guilt on her face. "She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

They continued on for a while and Olivia tuned them out—not wanting to get attached. "So, Atlanta tomorrow?" She mumbled to Tony.

"Or the next day. I was talking to the kid, Glenn; he seems to know the city pretty good. We'll work out a plan." He muttered back, not wanting to draw too much attention.

"What about you two?" T-Dog questioned from his spot around the fire. Shane had gotten up to go talk to Ed and Carol. "What was it like in Pennsylvania?"

Tony and Olivia exchanged looks, not really knowing where to begin. "Um. Bizarre. Like somethin' out of a horror movie." Tony said finally.

"Yeah. It all happened so fast. We had heard those weird stories on the news. Never believed them. Then we saw one Rotter. That's when we decided to come find Jared. The next mornin', though—." Olivia trailed off, cringing at the memory.

"The next mornin' was terrible." Tony continued grimly. "It all happened so fast. I guess a hoard came through over night or somethin'. Everyone was gone. There were Rotters everywhere. We looted a store and got the hell out of dodge. That was a month ago."

"The radio said they were setting up refuge camps in Harrisburg. Don 't know how well that worked out. All the cities we passed… they've got it the worst." Olivia told them.

"They said the same thing about Atlanta." Andrea grumbled. "Just look how that turned out."

Everyone fell silent as Shane rejoined the group and sighed. Dale leaned forward, staring at the fire. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

Olivia frowned hearing this. "He's got a brother? And y'all just _left_ him behind?"

T-Dog hung his head guiltily. "His name is Merle. We handcuffed him on the roof, he was causing trouble. I'll tell Daryl. I dropped the key. It's on me."

Olivia felt her stomach turn. She couldn't imagine the panic this Merle was feeling. Handcuffed to a roof in a city full of Rotters. Her distrust in these people grew. How could they just leave someone behind—who wasn't even dead?

Rick shook his head at T-Dog. "I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

"Guys. It's not a competition." Glenn sighed to the men. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." He nodded to Rick.

"I did what I did." T-Dog said finally. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie." Amy said, trying to be helpful. Tony rolled his eyes at the girl for suggesting such an option.

"Or we could tell the truth." Andrea replied, giving a look to her sister. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's." Tony glanced around these at the group suspiciously. What the hell happened in Atlanta?

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale questioned, eyes wide. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise—we're going to have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

Everyone exchanged worried looks and Olivia was sure glad none of this was her or Tony's problem. The group continued to discuss what to do and T-Dog revealed that he had locked the door and Merle probably still alive. They all sat there a little while longer and Tony stared at Rick. He looked like he as debating something and Tony was willing to wager he was thinking of going back to get the abandoned man.

After a while everyone decided to head to bed. Tony and Olivia walked to the car muttering to each other. "They might go back for the guy." Tony told her.

"Did you hear what they said about him? He's white trash. They ain't going back."

"They feel guilty. And Rick seemed pretty tormented. I think they might."

"Well, if they do. We'll go with 'em. Be easier to find Jared that way."

Tony nodded in agreement as they slipped in the Caprice and tried to get some shut eye. "Guess we'll see how it plays out tomorrow. Night, Liv."

"Don't let the Rotters bite."


	3. Problem Child

**PROBLEM CHILD**

* * *

The next morning turned out to be a chance for Tony and Olivia to fit into the group more. They decided to share some of their food with the group to get onto their good side. Olivia found that it turned out the saying was true; a way to man's heart is through their stomach. As Olivia and Tony handed out cans of fruit and boxes of cereal they became pretty popular.

Olivia didn't truly understand why her and Tony were doing this if they were going to leave in a couple of days. It was a waste of food and time but Tony insisted that they need to 'thank their hosts'. Olivia figured he was just glad to see other people, so she complied.

Everyone seemed to be up with the break of dawn—except for Rick. Lori wanted to let him sleep after all he's been through and there was a general consensus on that idea.

Dale had jumped up on his R.V., binoculars glued to his eyes. Carol and the other women had gone down to the nearby lake and washed clothes while the others made breakfast. Jim, Morales, Tony, and Olivia were dismantling the Dodge Challenger much to Glenn's displeasure. Everyone seemed to get that they no longer had the pleasure of wasting time.

The children of the camp were running around, hollering and having a good time and it broke Olivia's heart. This world was no place for children to be children anymore. They deserved so much more.

Around nine Rick came crawling out of his tent wearing new clothes. As he passed other group members he would exchange pleasantries. He stopped to talk to Carol before joining Glenn as he watched the torture of his car.

"Look at 'em." Glenn grumbled as Olivia helped Morales slide a tire off of the axel. "Vultures! Yeah, go on. Strip it clean!"

Dale walked by with a smirk, carrying a filled jerry can. "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Get no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." He patted the young man on the arm.

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn grumbled to Rick.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick said turning, patting Glenn on the shoulder.

Wiping her hand on her cheek Olivia walked over to Glenn. She was sweatm had grease stains all over her face and her hair was a tangled, frizzy mess. "Who knows, maybe if you're nice to him, Tony'll let you drive the Caprice!"

Glenn gave her a small smile as Tony jerked his head up from the engine. "Aw, hell no! No offence kid, but nobody drives the Caprice but me."

"Seriously, not even me. Surprised he hasn't tried to marry the thing yet." Olivia jested.

"You laugh at me, but last time I let you drive it you dinged the door." Tony grumbled as he worked with Jim.

"That was fourteen years ago, asshole!" Olivia exclaimed angrily earning a laugh from Glenn. She glared at him and huffed out an angry breath.

Tony laughed and threw a wrench at her feet. "Exactly! You have no experience behind the wheel."

Olivia rolled her eyes and turned to Glenn. "I do, too. Just not with the Caprice." She assured him sternly.

Glenn was grinning in amusement "Oh, I'm sure."

Olivia opened her mouth to protest but Shane interrupted as he came speeding up the hill in his jeep. "Water's here, y'all! Just a reminder to boil before use."

Glenn and a bunch of others went to unload the water and Olivia turned back to the car to continue salvaging parts. It was a hot day out and working on an engine didn't help. She was sure she was looking mighty attractive covered in sweat and grease stains. She was about to pop off the last tire when the screams of Carl and the other kids echoed through the clearing.

Groping her hip for her glock, Tony and Olivia—along with pretty much the rest of the camp—high tailed it in the direction of the shouts. The kids were okay and the mother's went to comfort them as the rest of the group—the men and Olivia—went off to find what spooked them.

In a little clearing there was a dead deer with arrows sticking out of it, a rotter feeding off it. The thing didn't look up, just continued to gnaw away at the deer's neck. Olivia cringed in disgust as she trained her gun on its head. When it finally took notice of the group and stood to attack, the men had already circled it and began beating at it with whatever tools they had at hand. Olivia wanted to laugh at how ridiculous they looked.

They continued to beat at it until Dale was finally able to smash it's head off with an axe. Olivia knew it wasn't dead but the men didn't seem to notice, and she didn't want to fire her gun. "That's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale noted.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said throwing his weapon down.

Tony nudged the rotter's body with his toe. "That car alarm probably didn't help, either."

Glenn opened his mouth to argue but a breaking twig caught everyone's attention and instantly the weapons were back up. Slowly the men began to creep towards the sound, ready. A man with a crossbow and a muscle shirt appeared from behind a rock and looked at everyone with mild surprise. This must be Daryl Dixon, Olivia hazarded a guess. "Oh, Jesus. " Shane groaned, turning away.

"Son of a bitch!" The man swore as he came into the clearing. "That's _my_ deer! Aw, look at it all gnawed on by this… " He began kicking the rotter's body. "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy, bastard!"

Tony chuckled at his reaction as Dale scolded the wild man. "Calm down, son. That's not helping."

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?" Daryl raged.

"Hey!" Tony yelled, catching the hunter's attention. "His hat is not stupid!"

Daryl just stared at him for a minute as the others chuckled before turning his attention back to the deer and pulling his arrows out. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He gestured to the neck questioningly.

"Probably shouldn't risk it." Olivia mumbled walking ahead closer to look at the thing. "'Sides I think it was still alive before the rotter started gnawing on me. Disease probably circulated."

Daryl stood up and stared at her—trying to remember if he had seen the brunette woman before. He didn't know everyone's names back at camp but he was sure he'd remember _her_ if he saw her before. "Who the hell are you?" He snapped after a moment.

"New." She snarled shortly back to him. She didn't like being snapped at by a total stranger—especially when she was trying to be helpful. Olivia diverted her gaze to the head of the Rotter as it began twitching. _Someone should really do something about that_, she thought.

"I'm Tony. She's Olivia." Tony greeted, shooting his sister a glare as she kicked around at the Rotter moodily. "We're looking for our bother but we found y'all instead."

Daryl kept looking at Olivia for a while in silence before turning back to the deer. "That's a damn shame. I got us some squirrel—about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He said towards Rick, showing the game he caught.

The head of the Rotter started making biting motions and groaning which caused Amy to gag and Andrea to usher her away. Daryl gave an annoyed sigh, cocking his crossbow. "C'mon people, what the hell?" He shot it in the eye and then retrieved his arrow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He made eye contact with Rick as he shoved his way away from the group.

As he walked away Olivia couldn't help but be impressed by Daryl Dixon—despite her annoyance with the man. He knew his way around a crossbow and had taken down the deer by himself—she was impressed. He would probably outlive everyone here—judging by their rudimentary survival skills. And those arms of his. Olivia coyly admired the well-defined limbs as he walked away towards camp.

Daryl began calling for his brother and Tony winced—knowing the fight that was about to break out. Rick and the rest of the guys began going after him—ready to explain and Tony walked over to Olivia.

"I don't like him." He grumbled as we watched them leave.

"Why? He's probably the best type of person to be around nowadays." She defended the hunter, staring at his retreating back.

"He was staring at you." Tony grumbled childishly.

Olivia rolled her eyes. She hated when Tony played the protective older brother. "Seriously? Nothing is going to happen, Tony. He's kind of an asshole." She kicked the rotter's head. "'Sides, he stared at you too."

"You can't tell me his arms didn't impress you."

"Oh, you noticed them too, did you?" She smirked, nudging Tony in the shoulder and trudging after the group.

"Shut up." He grumbled, shoving her lightly when he caught up.

When they walked up to camp, the group was surrounding Daryl with uneasy looks on their faces. Daryl was glaring at Shane and standing in a defensive position. Tony was willing to bet Shane was glad he had put the crossbow down. "He dead?" Daryl asked finally.

Shane shook his head slowly. "We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl yelled, circling Shane.

Rick decided now was the time to step forward and he walked towards the angry man. "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

Daryl turned his attention to the approaching Rick. "Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes." Daryl scoffed, mockingly. "You got something you want to tell me?"

Rick took step back but didn't break eye contact. They were treating Daryl like he was some kind of dangerous animal. "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on. Let me process this." Daryl muttered, his face turning red with rage. Angry tears were starting to leak from his squinted eyes. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a _roof_? And you left him there?" He screamed.

"Yeah." Rick confessed, looking away ashamed.

Daryl stared at him for a few seconds before tossing his haul of squirrels at Rick and moving to tackle him. Fortunately Shane was ready and tackled him mid-lunge. As he fell to the ground, Daryl grabbed his hunting knife from its strapped and stood lowly back up. T-Dog joined group and raised a hand warningly to Daryl. "Watch the knife."

As Tony and Olivia stood back watching, he chuckled. "This is better than wrestling."

She jabbed him in his side—not amused that he found this situation funny. He would be reacting the same way if he were in Dixon's place. "At least this is real." She allowed after a beat, frowning, and Tony snickered.

Shane now had Daryl in a chokehold as the man struggled against him. "You best let me go!" Daryl screamed.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't" Shane told him with amusement and Olivia felt disgusted. Daryl had every right to react this way.

"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl grunted and Tony barked out a laugh.

"You can file a complaint." Shane said as Daryl fought against him. "C'mon man, we'll keep this all day."

Rick crouched down in front of Daryl and began to speak calmly to the distressed man. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

Daryl fought for a couple of minutes before agreeing and shoved himself away from Shane when he released him.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick started. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

T-Dog, not wanting to Rick to take the blame began to confess. "It's not Rick's fault." Daryl's head shot up. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl raged.

T-Dog looked away ashamed and slouched guiltily. "Well, I-I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl scoffed staring at the ground, gathering his strength before he stood up and threw a rock at T-Dog's feet. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will." T-Dog tried, apologetically. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him—with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for count for something." Rick told Daryl.

"Hell with all y'all!" Daryl glared at Rick and wiped away his angry tears. Then whimpered helplessly. "Just tell me where he is. So's I can got get him."

"He'll show you." Lori spoke up haughtily, clearly disagreeing with Rick's choice. "Isn't that right?

The held a conversation with their eyes before Rick looked down and nodded. "I'm going back." He said finally and the group slowly dispersed now that the show was over.

"Told you they'd go back." Tony said, taunting Olivia. "Say it."

Olivia groaned. "Do you have to make me say it every time you're right?" He just stared at her expectantly. "Fine. Anthony Joseph Bridges is the smartest and coolest person I know. I am lucky just to bask in his presence and being around him makes me a better person. I pale in comparison. There. You happy?"

"For now." He told her. "I'll go talk with Rick about going with 'em. Put in a stop at Jared's apartment before we go get Dixon's brother."

Pleased with the turn of events Olivia went to join the men in disassembling the car once again as Tony stalked off after Rick. She cast a glance in Daryl's direction as he stormed away from the group—clearly upset, and her heart went out to the guy. With Jared missing she knew how he felt. And she wanted to help him as much as she could to reunite the two. As Olivia saw it, nothing is more important than family.

And most of all she was just happy they were one step closer to getting to Jared.


	4. If You Want Blood (You Got It)

**If You Want Blood (You Got it)**

_"Feelin' like a christian  
Locked in a cage  
Thrown to the lions  
On the second page"_

_ -If you want blood (you got it) - AC/DC_

* * *

"You're not coming!"

Olivia swore angrily at her brother and kicked at the ground. They had been arguing for the last twenty minutes about her going to Atlanta to look for Merle and Jared. Tony had apparently come to the decision that she was staying here at the misfit camp, which Olivia had no intention of doing.

"You asshole!" She yelled at him, not caring about the scene she was causing. "I ain't gonna let you go to the geek-infested city without me! I _need_ to help look for Jared, too."

"Look, Liv. I'll be alright. T-Dog, Glenn, Daryl, and Rick are all coming. They know what they're doing. We'll be fine." Tony sighed, running a hand through his brown hair. "'Sides, I don't wanta have to worry about my kid sister getting bit."

"I'm not defenseless!" She snarled, shoving his shoulders. "You don't have to worry about me—"

"Yeah, well I'm going to either way. And I just feel better knowing you'll be here."

Olivia bit her lip and looked at the rest of the group who had gathered to discuss the plan of attack for Atlanta. They were all staring at the siblings. She sighed. "What about you? How am I supposed to know _you'll_ be safe?"

"Always am, kid." Tony smirked; ruffling her hair and Olivia slapped his hand off, fuming. "So do we have a deal? You'll stay here?"

Scoffing, she crossed her arms; ready to fight again. "Absolutely not! There is no way—"

"It's either you stay here willingly while I go look for Jared." Tony interrupted, no longer amused. "Or I make you stay and neither of us look for him."

She stared at him angrily and grinded her teeth, unsure of what to do. Neither option seemed like a good choice to her. Olivia shifted her glare to the other four going on the Atlanta trip and sized them up. Daryl, while he seemed like the most likely to survive probably couldn't be trusted to make sure her brother got home alive. He wasn't exactly a team player. The others she had a feeling she could trust. After all, they were going back just for Merle, a man they weren't too fond of.

Sensing her anguish, Rick—now dressed up in his cop gear again—gave Olivia a reassuring nod, and she shifted her glare back to her brother. Tony saw that she was giving in and gave her a shit-eating grin—proud he won this battle.

"Fuck you." Olivia sneered as she shoved past him, joining the women as they sat around the fire. She grabbed a stick and began poking angrily at the charred wood. Carl, who she sat next to gave her a wary look and shifted closer to his mom.

"Well, now that that's settled…" Dale started. "That's five."

Shane—who was against the idea since the beginning shook his head at Rick. "It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was _in_ camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back; we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to _protect_ camp."

Rick just sighed as he argued with his best friend. "It seems to me what you really need here are more guns."

Glenn made a sound of recognition. "Right, the guns!"

Shane looked between Glenn and Rick, confused. "Wait. What guns?"

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left." Rick smirked before sighing. "I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to picked up."

"Ammo?"

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted."

Shane looked down, sighing, before looking over at Tony then at Olivia. "I seem to recall y'all saying you had a trunk_ full_ of guns."

Tony grunted, not wanting an excuse to not go. "It's true. But I reckon we could use all we can get."

It was silent for a moment before Lori joined the argument. "You went through _hell_ to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"I don't want you to go, Dad." Carl mumbled in agreement.

Rick sighed as he looked between his son and wife; conflict written on his face. "To hell with the guns! Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Lori stood as Rick walked over to her. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." He spoke lowly to her. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap if I don't warn them." Tony's respect for Rick grew. It was nice to know an honorable man in the end of the world. They seemed to be a dying species.

"What's stopping you?" She muttered, dejectedly.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah."

Andrea looked up. "So use the C.B. What's wrong with that?" She suggested.

"The C.B.'s fine. It's that walkies that suck to crap… Date back to the '70's, don't match other bandwidth… Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane groaned as he explained the situation.

Rick stared at Lori, pleading with his eyes. "I need that bag. Okay?" Lori didn't say anything, just looked down in defeat as she wrung her hands; tears in her eyes. Rick gave a sad smile before kneeling down in front of his son. "Okay?" He asked softly.

Carl looked at him before nodding slowly. Rick reached out and squeezed his shoulder firmly. "Alright."

Rick nodded before standing up to start gathering supplies for their trip. T-Dog had backed the van up and had the door propped open—ready to fill, which they proceeded to do. Glenn began spouting off whatever information about the city that he thought might be useful.

As Olivia watched them bustle about she felt someone sit beside her and she shifted her gaze to her brother who was giving her a sad smile. He began to apologize "Look, I'm sorry. But we have five guys going and—"

"I get it. I'd be burden." Olivia cut him off, giving the fire a harsh poke.

Tony groaned. "You know that's not it. I'm your big brother, Liv. I've been looking after you your whole life. I ain't about to stop now."

With a sigh she turned and frowned at him. "You don't have to, though. I can take care of myself. Dad made sure of that. And we looked after each other. It wasn't just you. Always have."

Tony smiled and slung an arm around her, bringing Olivia into a hug. "I know, kiddo and I never stop thanking God for ya."

Sighing in defeat she returned his hug; wrapping her arms around his muscular torso. "Just be safe, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

Glenn walked over to the siblings. "Listen, Olivia. I'll make sure he gets back. I promise."

That didn't make her feel much better but she gave a weak smile up to the young boy. "Thanks Glenn, you're sweet. You make sure you get yourself back safe and sound, too, y'here."

He chuckled and gave her a mock salute. "Yes'm!"

"At ease soilder." Olivia laughed—feeling slightly better about the situation. Glenn smiled before scuttling off to hop into the front seat of the cube van—much to Daryl's approval. Rick and T-Dog were talking to Jim and Dale, a pair of bolt cutters in their hands.

Daryl waited a couple of minutes before he grew impatient again. Honking the horn with his foot he shouted at the others. "C'mon! Let's go!"

Rick and T-Dog looked up, nodded at Dale, and made their way to the van—the rest of the group watching wearily. Olivia got up with Tony and joined them at the van. Shane carried a black bag and set it in the back.

"Hey, Rick, got any rounds in the python?" He asked. Before they began having a personal conversation that Olivia tuned out, instead focusing on her brother.

"Y'all are going to stop by Jared's?" She checked with him.

"Yeah. After we check on Merle."

"Y'all going to kiss or what?" Daryl interrupted sneering down at them; his patience wearing thin.

Rolling her eyes at his impatience, Olivia smiled sweetly up at him. "Is that what you and your brother do?"

He just glared down at her for a while before swearing and kicking the side of the van. "C'mon people!" Olivia looked at him like he was a child throwing a tantrum.

Tony laughed at the pair before Olivia gave him one last hug before he climbed into the back of the van with Daryl and T-Dog. "Be safe!" She called out to them.

Daryl grunted in response as he pulled the door shut behind them.

The engine started and everyone stopped what they were doing to silently watch the van leave. Olivia swore under her breath before walking to join the other women around the fire again.

"I was thinking of heading down to the quarry to wash some more clothes. Would you like to join us?" Carol asked politely but Olivia could swear she heard some hesitation; scared Olivia was going to blow up again. She had been screaming all morning, after all.

Normally, Olivia wouldn't be caught dead doing the laundry. At home, Tony mainly did it. But she needed something to distract herself. She nodded hesitantly. "Sure."

"We were just about to head down there." Carol told Olivia softly as she gathered bags of laundry in her arms. "Just waiting on Ed."

Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui walked forward—their arms full too. "Ed's bringing the car forward?" Andrea questioned, setting down a basket.

Carol nodded. "Yeah, he should be here any minute."

Feeling oddly domestic, Olivia shoved her hands into her jean pockets. "Can… can I grab something?" She offered awkwardly.

Carol gave her a warm, motherly smile as a car pulled up to the side of the group of women. The girls started throwing their baskets in the back. "Sure, sweetie. Thank you. There is one more basket over there."

Olivia nodded before joining the ladies in loading the car. Once everything was in she hopped in the back and sat in silence as they made their way down the steep hill to the lake in the quarry. The ladies chatted about nothing but Olivia couldn't bring herself to join.

After about ten minutes they arrived and got to actually doing the laundry. Olivia scoffed at Ed—Carol's husband as he sat in the back of the car doing nothing.

She sat down next to Carol, mimicking her actions of scrubbing the clothes and relishing the feeling of the cool water against her calves. After about half an hour Shane and Carl trotted down just next to the ladies with buckets and nets. Olivia watched with amusement as they made a big show of catching frogs; chuckling at their antics.

The other women weren't as amused as Olivia, however. "I'm beginning to question the division of labour here." Jacqui nodded in Shane's direction as he dunked his head into the lake—looking for his bucket. "Can someone tell me how the women wound up doing all he Hattie McDaniel work?"

Andrea laughed at Jacqui's complaints. "The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?"

Carol glanced back at her husband and sighed. "It's just the way it is." Olivia had a feeling she wasn't just talking about the sexist division of labour but she didn't say anything.

"So, Olivia. What's your story?" Andrea asked as Olivia handed her the shirt she had just scrubbed. "What's with you and your brother?"

All the ladies looked at the young brunette with interest and she shrugged at them. "I suppose it is a bit strange, isn't? A grown ass woman sticking it out with her brother?"

They all laughed. "Well when you put it that way…" Jacqui paused to mockingly think. "Yeah!"

"I don't know." Olivia chuckled, looking down into the water. "That's just the way it's always been, I guess. Mom died when I was young and we had to move around a lot because of Dad's job. It was tough making friends when you're always on the move. So us kids stuck together. Tony and I just never outgrew that, I guess. We were actually trying to visit every state in the country before the world turned to shit." Olivia smiled fondly at the memories.

"What about your other brother—Jared? How come he isn't with you?" Carol asked as they saw Lori come marching down into the quarry towards Shane and Carl.

"He went to school in Atlanta. He's in his third year of residency." Olivia said proudly.

"Wow, a doctor?" Andrea giggled, fanning her face jokingly.

Olivia laughed with the ladies. "Yeah. He's doing a lot better for himself than Tony and me, that's for sure."

Nobody said anything for a while as they continued to scrub clothes. "I do miss my Maytag." Carol grumbled longingly.

Andrea made a sound of agreement. "I miss my Benz, my sat nav."

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui groaned in longing as she squeezed out a shirt.

"My computer… and texting." Amy added.

"Beer." Olivia added jokingly although it wasn't a lie.

The ladies all snickered to themselves before Andrea piped in. "I miss my vibrator."

"Oh." Jacqui squealed dramatically as they all laughed.

Amy just laughed in disbelief and disgust. "Oh my god!"

The group fell silent for a couple of minutes before Carol spoke up. "Me too." They broke into laughter again. It seemed outrageous that the timid Carol could be naughty too.

Ed, however, didn't seem to agree with their banter. He slowly sauntered over to them, puffing on his cancer stick. "What's so funny?"

"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea told him with good humour.

Ed continued to approach and leered at the ladies as they worked. Olivia instantly began to dislike the guy. "Problem, Ed?" She snapped.

He shot Olivia a dark look. "Nothin' that concerns _you_. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club."

Olivia scoffed and scrubbed the clothes harder in anger. "Because multi-tasking is so unheard of." She grumbled under her breath.

Andrea was getting fed up. She stood and confronted him. "Ed, tell you what… you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in a do it yourself. Here." She tossed the sopping shirt at him, but he just threw it back in her face. "Oh!" She exclaimed, surprised.

Olivia jumped to her feet and gave him her harshest glare. "Ain't my job, missy." He sneered.

Carol stood timidly. "Andrea, don't." She warned.

Olivia pushed forward and sneered at the man. "And what exactly is_ your_ job, Ed? Sitting on your fat ass smoking cigarettes?"

He gave Olivia a cold glare, crushing his cigarette beneath his foot. "Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity, smart-mouthed bitches. Tell you what—" He looked to Carol and reached out to grab her arm. "Come one. Let's go."

Carol made a move to go with him but Olivia blocked Carol with her arm. "We're not done our _job _here Ed. Wouldn't want to slack on our part, now would we?"

Andrea closed in, too. "I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed."

"And I say it's none of your business." He sneered, motioning at Carol again. "Come on now. You heard me."

She made a motion to follow again and Andrea frowned at her. "Carol…"

Carol just shook her head. "Andrea, please. It doesn't matter."

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, all right?" Ed taunted Andrea. There was no way Olivia was letting Carol go with him, now. She absolutely _despised_ men like Ed. "Now you come on now or you're gonna regret it later."

Jacqui joined in as they crowded around Carol and Shane left the lake and walked closer to the group. "So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them."

Ed just laughed in her face, not phased in the slightest. "Stay out of this. Now come on! This ain't none of y'alls business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on."

"I don't know. Do _you_ want to prod the bull?" Olivia sneered as he reached forward again for Carol and a little catfight began to ensue. Ed was trying to jerk Carol along with him and all of the ladies kept slapping his arm away. Even Carol seemed to resist his attempts.

Finally he grew impatient. "You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" He made a move to slap Carol but Olivia got in his way. His fist smashed against the side of her head with a sharp _crack! _Olivia cringed at the sharp pain. The other women started to scream and hit him and Olivia's anger reached a peak. She wasn't some weak girl. She knew how to take care of herself and she wasn't one to let some entitled alpha male walk all over her.

As Ed made a move to grab Carol again, Olivia made a fist and decked him across his cheek as hard as she could. Her hand ached with the force but she ignored it and swung her knee up into his crotch as he doubled over with pain. "You think it's okay to hit your wife, you fucking bastard! Not much fun getting it back, is it?" Olivia screamed as she shoved him back. Shane came rushing up and grabbed Ed jerking him to the ground and began pummeling the bastard. Carol screeched and ran forward.

Not caring what the outcome was Olivia turned back to the other women cupping her stinging cheek. The other woman all screamed at Shane to stop—he was mutilating Ed. After a couple of minutes, Shane pulled back and put a threatening finger in Ed's face. "You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?"

Ed whimpered in pain as Shane shook him. "Yes."

Shane shoved him to the ground and glared down at him. "I'll beat you to death." He kicked Ed in the stomach to prove his point.

Carol was sobbing and she kneeled next to her scumbag of a husband—which disgusted Olivia. She began apologizing over and over.

Shane gave us a wild look before he skulked back up to the camp as Amy, Andrea, and Jacqui exchanged terrified looks.

"Is laundry day always like this?" Olivia grumbled sarcastically, still nursing her cheek.

"Oh my god, Olivia!" Jacqui rushed over to Olivia's side. "Are you all right?" She gingerly pressed the injured girl's cheek and she winced in pain.

"I'll be fine." Olivia assured her. "Can't say the same for Ed." She said with satisfaction as Carol helped Ed to his feet and took him limping to the car.

"We'll go get you something cold to put on that." Andrea said, grabbing Olivia's arm to lead her out of the quarry. Olivia followed, letting the women fuss over her. But, in full honesty this was nothing. She had much, much worse before.

With a final glance at the lake she sighed. She only hoped Tony was having this much fun.


	5. Some Sin for Nuthin'

**Some Sin for Nuthin'**

_"Heroes, hard to find  
Don't make the news 'til they're doin' time  
Schemers turn the screw  
They get the word and they drop on you"_

_-Some Sin for Nuthin', AC/DC_

* * *

Tony sighed as he sat down in the back of the cube van. It killed him to leave his sister behind—especially with the way she reacted. His whole life he had spent looking after his kid siblings and now—with the world turned to shit—he didn't want to take his eyes off of her for even a second. But Atlanta was dangerous and they had more than enough men going. She wasn't needed. Tony was bound he was going to keep his sister out of danger for as long as he could.

T-Dog and Daryl were sat next to him, T-Dog staring at the wall and Daryl biting his thumb nail. "Does T-Dog stand for something?" Tony asked after a while, sick of the silence. He nudged the man in the foot.

"Uh, yeah." The man scratched the back of his head as the van rocked over bumps in the road. "Theodore Douglas. Terrible name, if you ask me."

Tony just nodded with interest, "Huh. Sounds distinguished."

"What about you?"

"Tony stands for Anthony."

T-Dog snorted. "Nah, man. What's the deal with you and your sister?"

"She's got a bit of a mouth on her, ain't she?" Daryl grunted, taking interest in the conversation. "Got language more colorful than a kid's drawing book."

"Yeah, probably gets that from me. Practically raised the kid. Always did have a short fuse, that one." Tony laughed. "Um, well we've always been close, if that's what you're asking. Our childhood was—" He cut off, frowning. "Well let's just say we travelled a lot. Had nobody to rely on but each other. Some things never change, I guess." He finished simply.

"Why the hell were you two living together? You've got to be at least thirty. Something going on there?" Daryl asked rudely, clearly implying incest.

"That's disgusting." Tony gagged. "'Sides, we didn't always live together, douchebag. Liv was actually a Juvenile Counselor up until a year ago and I was in Chicago working as a mechanic. Um… _stress_ got to her, though, and we decided to take a road trip. Trying to visit every state."

"For a _year_?" T-Dog stressed as they all swerved around a corner.

"Yeah, well. We weren't in a big rush or nothin'." The men fell silent as they turned to their thoughts before Tony turned his gaze to the hunter. He would never miss the opportunity to embarrass his sister. "She likes you, you know."

Tony was pleasantly pleased when blood rushed to the man's face as he shifted awkwardly, biting his thumbnail. "We've uh… only said maybe two words to each other." He denied. "And they were none to friendly."

"You impressed her." Tony chuckled. "Thinks you're going to be the one to outlive us all."

Daryl grunted as he turned his attention back to his crossbow, embarrassed. "Well, she can keep her thoughts to herself." T-Dog and Tony exchanged looks of amusement at the hunter's discomfort.

"I'm glad you think so." Tony said after a while, as Glenn drove the van onto railroad tracks—almost at the city. "I've my plate full just trying to keep the Rotters off of her, don't want to have to worry about keeping the fellas at bay, too."

Glenn, who had been listening to the conversation in silence snorted. "Yeah, like that's going to be easy."

Tony—knowing what the boy meant—decided to tease him. "What are you saying, Rhee? Are we going to have ourselves a problem, here?"

"What? No! No, of course not." Glenn instantly denied. Tony was a big guy and he didn't want to get on his bad side. "I'm just saying, it's the end of the world! There isn't much options anymore, you know? Doesn't help that she_ is_ pretty."

The men—save for Daryl—all laughed at Glenn's panicked rambling. "Calm down, kid. I know what you meant. Just giving you a hard time."

Glenn just kept his head forward—his red ear being a tell-tail sign of his embarrassment. "We're just outside city limits." He mumbled, directing the van over the tracks.

Daryl, on hearing this, sat up and shot a glare at T-Dog. "He'd better be ok. It's my only word on the matter."

T-Dog just rested his head against the wall of the van. He was fed up with hearing about it—he already felt guilty enough. "I _told_ you the Geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's getting through that door is us." The two just glared each other.

Glenn directed the van over one more bump before slowing down and bringing the vehicle to screeching halt—Tony winced at the noise. "We walk from here. " Glenn ordered, turning to glance at everyone. Daryl was the first to jump up, opening the sliding door and leaping to the ground. Everyone else following as Glenn led them to an eerie looking gate.

So far there was no sign of anything but Tony kept a wary eye out as the men jogged through the overgrown grass. This was the first time he was going to have to face the Biters head on and he couldn't say he was excited. His palms were sweating with dread.

The group came up to a run-down bridge and followed Glenn through a hole in the chain-link fence around it. Once everyone was cleared, Rick turned to the group. "Merle first, Jared, or guns?"

"Merle!" Daryl said, outraged as he swung his crossbow on his shoulders. "We ain't even havin' this conversation!"

"We are." Rick stated angrily and then turned to Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Jared is closest. It's on the way to Merle. Then Merle. The guns would mean doubling back. Jared first."

Daryl swore loudly as the group began to pick up the pace. "Fuck that! We ain't even know if the guy's there! Merle first!"

"I only need five minutes." Tony said with annoyance. "Just to make sure he got out. If he's not there, there is no way he's still in Atlanta." At least, he _hoped _Jared wouldn't be in Atlanta.

Daryl merely swore again in response as the group continued to jog forward. Jared lived in a run down apartment, in the north part of the city. It was barely an apartment in fact—more like a hostile. He was still in residency, and was barely scraping by. Between car payments and paying off student loans, he couldn't afford to live in luxury. Even if he was a Doctor.

They ran through the city, occasionally catching glimpses of walkers but were generally able to avoid them since they were taking a less common route. They were constantly hoping over fences and taking shortcuts through other buildings. After about half an hour of skulking about they came up to a beaten down brick building. It had been a couple of years since Tony had last been there, but it really hadn't changed that much. The grass was just a bit longer._ Oh. And everyone was dead._ He nodded to the group. "This is it."

Daryl grunted as he glanced around the street—keeping an eye out for Geeks. "You got five minutes, pretty boy."

Tony just grunted in response and nodded to Rick who was coming in with him. "Let's go."

The two men cautiously entered the building. There was no power of course, and it was pretty hard to see. Dust danced through the air as they entered the lobby. It had been a while since someone was here last. Rick nodded to the door that said stairs and they crept towards it. Tony shoved open the door and they were greeted with the potent smell of rotting flesh. Coughing, they both backed up a—gasping for clean air.

"Shit, that's awful." Tony grumbled, pulling his flannel shirt over his nose.

Rick nodded in agreement, also pulling his shirt up. "Be careful, where there's smoke there's fire."

They crept back into the stairwell and brought their weapons up. Rick had his gun and Tony was carrying a crow bar. The air was even thicker with dust in here and made it look hazy while flies buzzed around.

They didn't see anything on the first two sets of stairs and Tony began to wonder how the smell was so potent. As they turned to go up the third set of stairs he got his answer.

Three bodies littered the floor and a walker was crouched down next to them, looking for fresh flesh. Blood was pooled on the ground next to what Tony thought might have once been a girl, and smeared against the walls. It stained the wallpaper and was mixed in with rotting bits of brain.

The bodies were nearly unidentifiable. They were chunks of rotting meat that had been decomposing for weeks and torn apart by the lone walker. Tony turned to inspect the Geek. It had begun to smell flesh and was turning its rotting head towards them. Groaning, its finger left the mutilated flesh of the body it was defiling and began going after the two men.

"I got it." Tony told Rick, stepping towards the Rotter and swinging his crowbar at its leg—causing the limb to break apart easily from the body and the thing collapsed. He brought the bar down hard at its head and the skull gave in easily, it's liquefied brains squishing out. It stopped moving.

"Ugh." Rick groaned, stepping over the Walker to inspect the rest of the bodies. "Looks like this… girl, I think? Was ganged up on. These ones all got shots between the eyes. Guess she couldn't get past the third one, though."

"Poor thing." Tony said, as he wiped off the dripping brains on the dead Walker's shirt. "Her gun still there?"

Rick used his bat to prod at the bodies before shaking his head. "I hate to ask, but any of these Jared?"

Tony's blood froze, the idea never crossing his mind. He slowly moved forward to gaze at the dead, praying he wouldn't recognize any of them. He stared at the rotting flesh for what felt like years before he let out a sigh of relief. "No. No, I don't think so."

Rick nodded before walking up the next flight of stairs. "All right then."

There was nothing else for the next to flight of stairs and they were finally at the Jared's floor. They glanced at each other before pushing through into the hallway. It was dark—almost too dark to see but from what they could tell, there were no more walkers. Blood was stained on the walls and someone had fired off of bullets at one point but that was the worst of it. Tony led the way until he was able to find what was Jared's room and stopped.

"Ready?" Rick asked, hoping for good news within that room. He wasn't prepared to have to deal with another Daryl Dixon reaction alone.

Tony gave a determined nod before trying the doorknob—which was surprisingly unlocked. As the door swung open he called out. "Jared? You in here? It's Tony!"

Silence greeted them and they ventured further into the room. "I don't think anybody's been here for a while." Rick observed.

Tony let out a breath of relief and went to explore the living room. Everything appeared to be normal—no signs of struggle or blood anywhere. Tony shouldered his crowbar and smiled at Rick. "I'm just going to check the bedroom. See if his clothes are gone."

Rick nodded, joining him as they walked down the hallway. Tony carelessly swung the door open and once again their noses were assaulted with scent of dead flesh. The room was tiny so the smell was a lot more concentrated, and Rick had to dart out of the room—dry heaving. Tony let out a distressed groan and darted over to the bed where the sheets revealed the outline of a body.

His heart was pounding in his ears and time seemed to stand still. He collapsed next to the bed—his crowbar clattering loudly to the ground and he hesitantly pulled the sheet away from the figure.

It wasn't Jared.

Tony let out a cry of relief and threw his head in his hands—tears beginning to stream down his face. Rick, with his shirt wrapped around his face came hesitantly over to the bed. "Is it your brother?"

"No." Tony shook his head as he stood up—wiping the tears away that were spilling down his cheeks. "His girlfriend, Jenny."

Rick nodded sadly before pulling down the sheet to look at the poor girl. "She's been shot in the head."

"Jared, probably." Tony explained as he turned away from the rotting girl he once knew and started pulling open drawers. "Mercy killing." His voice cracked painfully.

"Clothes are gone. " Rick observed as he joined in prying open drawers.  
"He got out."

"A part of him, at least." Tony grunted as he gave one last parting glance to Jenny—his heart breaking for his brother. He coughed. "Ugh. We should go. Dixon's panties are probably getting pretty painful from all the twisting they've been doing."

Rick nodded sympathetically as the two darted back down the room. Tony scrubbed at his face with his hand—trying to get away any evidence he'd been crying and he tried not to think about the dead girl back in the room. '_Jared's alive._' He kept telling himself. _'At least there's that.'_

When they finally got back to the rest of the group on the street, Daryl was fuming. "I told y'all this was a fuckin' waste time! He ain't even there!"

The group began dashing forward down the street and Tony threw a heated look at the hunter. "Fuck off, Dixon."

Daryl flipped him the bird and then they were off jogging again, following Glenn's lead. This time they were only a few blocks away at were able to get to the department store in no time.

Not wanting to risk a hoard, the group snuck around back to a side door. A few bodies of Walkers already littered the ground from the last time the group was there. There were a couple still walking but they were quickly taken care of. As the shuffled in Rick found himself stuffed into the department store for the second time in twenty fours. This time, however, the doors and windows were smashed in leaving them vulnerable.

They crept forward quietly and Rick held up a hand to halt the group as he had heard shuffling footsteps. He spotted the Walker and signaled to the rest of the group where it was. Daryl brought his crossbow up and approached the Geek as it shuffled closer. "Damn." He said. "You are one ugly skank." He fired off an arrow into its head before retrieving it again.

Glenn pushed forward past the walker. "Come on. Roof's this way."

Daryl quickly rushed forward, eager to get to his brother and the rest followed. They clanked up to the padlocked door and made easy work of the chain locking the door. As soon as it clashed to the ground Daryl had kicked it open and dashed through. "Merle! Merle!"

But Merle wasn't there.

As Tony rounded the corner he could see Daryl shaking his head, tears leaking out of his eyes. "No. No!" He screamed, pausing to look at T-Dog before turning back to where Merle should have been. "No!"

Tony looked to see what the fuss was about and saw the bloody saw and hand sitting there. He felt a wave of nausea hit him and looked away, rubbing his own hand. He couldn't imagine having to do that.

Daryl continued to scream and everyone else let him—unsure of what to do. Slowly they began to walk down the stairs to inspect the bloody mess. Tony kept his eyes averted. He could handle mutilated bodies, sure, but a man cutting off his own hand? It gave him the willies.

Daryl had stopped screaming and as he heard the other joining him, snapped. He brought out his crossbow—aiming at T-Dog as Rick brought his own gun to the distraught man's head. The three stood at a standstill as Daryl shook with emotion.

"I won't hesitate." Rick warned. "I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it. "

Daryl continued to shake before finally lowering his bow, staring at T-Dog. After a while, he sniffed, putting his differences aside. "You—you got a do-rag or something?" T-Dog stared at him before reaching into his pocket and bringing out a bandana. Daryl grabbed it and picked up his brothers hand—much to Tony's displeasure—and put it in Glenn's bag. He began following the trail of blood and the others followed after him.

They followed it to another door and back into a building that led to a series of offices. They quickly killed any Walkers they passed and finally found two bodies of already dead Walkers.

Tony let of a whistle at the sight. "Your brother is one tough sumbitch."

Daryl chuckled as he loaded his crossbow with more arrows. "You got that right. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

When Daryl was ready they moved on, creeping further into the building, weapons ready. The trail of blood kept going further and further through the building until they finally got to a cafeteria. There was a stove in there—flames still going. Merle couldn't have been here much longer before them. Rick went to investigate the stove and picked up a scrap of metal.

"What's the burned stuff?" Glenn asked, his stomach turning.

Rick looked at the thing, amazed. "Skin."

"Holy shit." Tony groaned at the thought. "The man cauterized the stump."

Glenn looked sick and Tony started thinking about puppies. "Told you he was tough." Daryl smirked. "Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

Rick was doubtful but they were quick to discover a broken window in the corner. Merle had left the building. Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl started arguing about what to do next. Tony was ignoring them—focusing on calming his turning stomach. All he wanted to do, at this point, was go back to the camp and talk to Olivia. Seeing Jenny at the apartment had drained him emotionally. But they still had to go for the guns—which turned out to be quite an ordeal in itself—and a huge misunderstanding.

Glenn had ended up being kidnapped when he went to get the guns because Daryl had jumped some kid who he had thought had jumped him. When the Atlanta group ended up meeting the other group—each with a hostage—they were highly suspicious of each other, which Tony thought was bullshit. He still had a hard time getting over how distrustful people could be, even when they had a common enemy who was a whole lot deadlier.

The other group—the Vatos—was defensive because they had been guarding a bunch of old people, medicine, and food. The Atlanta group was defensive because they thought the Vatos were torturing Glenn. In the end both groups had nothing to worry about and Tony was annoyed. The whole ordeal could have been avoided with simple chitchat. He was amused at the fact that a little old lady had been the one to resolve it—and the fact that one dared argue with her.

The Vatos—as it turned our were good people and he Atlanta group left an hour later on good terms.

As the walked back to the van they actually managed to share a laugh at the whole situation. "Admit it." Glenn laughed. "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat."

"Don't tell anybody."

"Mum's the word." Tony promised, chuckling.

Daryl however was still disgruntled. He wasn't happy that they were unable to find Merle. Tony was conflicted on that. He was happy Jared seemed to have left while the going was good, but he had no idea how in the hell he was supposed to find him now. And in what state, too. "You've given away half our guns and ammo." Dixon complained. Rick protested but he just continued. "For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"

Tony scoffed at the cynical man. "How long do any of us got?"

The group walked past a broken down sky shuttle bus to the stretch where their own van was only to stop short. Their van was gone.

"Where the hell is our van?" Daryl raged.

"We left it right there! Who the hell would take it!" Glenn cried.

Rick looked grim. "Merle."

The group all exchanged looks before Daryl spoke. "Well, he's going to be taking some vengeance back to camp."

Rick swore and the group looked around helplessly. The only other vehicles around were completely broken down and of no use. "We better get a move on it, then." Tony suggested after a couple of minutes.

They all groaned at the thought but couldn't complain—they had little other choice. "Let's go." T-Dog agreed, and the men were back to running down streets. The sun was beginning to make its descent and Tony predicted they would be back just after sundown. They didn't want to spend too much time out and about in the night because of the Walkers.

He grumbled to himself but kept pace. The day just wouldn't end.


	6. The Razor's Edge

**The Razor's Edge**

_"You're livin' on the edge  
Don't know wrong from right  
They're breathin' down you're neck  
You're runnin' out of lives  
Here comes the razor's edge"_

_-The Razor's Edge, AC/DC_

* * *

Thanks to that little tussle down by the lake—the rest of Olivia's day was free from work. Andrea and Amy had ushered her to the fireside where she was sitting with one of those instant ice packs against her cheek. The pain had died down quite some time ago but apparently it was still swelling something bad. Olivia bet Tony would be absolutely thrilled with her when he got back. She used to get in fights all of the time when she was in high school and he was always bailing her out.

Carol was still in the tent, cleaning up her scumbag husband. Olivia knew the other ladies were horrified at the beating he took but she couldn't say she was feeling too guilty. Olivia wasn't one to feel too sympathetic towards a wife beater. The reason being, she guessed, that once upon a time she had been juvenile justice counselor. She had seen troubled teen after troubled teen come through her office and more often than not they came from a troubled home. It broke Olivia's heart that she couldn't help all of them.

That's why Tony and her were travelling—a bit of a vacation from her job, not that she'd be going back to it now. Seeing those poor kids just broke her heart.

Amy and Andrea had gone back down to the lake earlier and had returned a while ago bearing fish. Olivia guessed it had been a while since the group had had such a feast, judging by the way they were reacting. But it was nice to see them so happy. Especially since the incident this morning. Her own stomach ached at the thought of having a meal that wasn't instant or in a can. It had been a while.

But their happiness was short lived. Jim the mechanic had been out all morning digging holes, and refused to stop—even to drink. They all went down there to see what was happening it turned out he had gotten a bit of heatstroke and was reliving the nightmare he had last night. Reliving the pain of losing his family. Olivia honestly didn't blame the guy.

As she kept him company while he was tied to the tree it got Olivia to thinking how lucky she was. She hadn't gone through anything as terrifying or heartbreaking as he had. The worst situation she had been in was back in Pennsylvania, although there had been some close calls on the road. But as terrifying as that was it was nothing compared to what Jim, or some of these other people went through. Olivia still had her brother. Well, as of this morning she did, anyways.

Olivia bit her lip as she began to worry about Tony again. The sun was beginning to set and they still hadn't returned. They hadn't given an expected time lapse but she had hoped they would return today.

After a while, Shane came walking over to Jim and Olivia. "Hey, Jim. How are you feeling, man?"

"I'm better. More myself now." Jim assured him, nodding.

Olivia stood up, brushing her denim shorts off. "I can vouch for him. He might be a little woozy now, but he ain't about to go digging holes again."

Shane nodded understandingly at her before apologizing to Jim. "I hope you understand the need for this… this time out. I've got the others to think about. I just want to make sure there's no hard feelings."

"There's not. I do understand."

Shane smiled. "Okay. Why don't you come join in with the rest of us? Big ol' fish fry!"

Jim nodded, a slow smile growing on his face. "I'd like that very much."

"Okay." Shane agreed as he began to untie the ill man.

"Hey, Olivia," Jim called out to the woman as he stretched out his limbs, "Just wanted to thank you for keeping me company. You didn't have to do that."

She smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "Course I did, Jim. 'Sides, I'm kinda down for the count at the moment, too. Us gimps got to stick together." She joked gesturing to her face. It really wasn't that big of deal in her opinion, but the others were refusing to put her to work. They were scared she had a concussion.

Jim laughed and walked up the hill to where everyone else was working to fry up the fish. Shane and Olivia lingered behind. "How are you holding up, Olivia? You doing okay?"

"I'm fine. Ed hits like a girl." She shrugged at him, getting sick of the question. "It looks a lot worse than it is."

"It don't look _that _bad." He protested and Olivia laughed.

"Don't lie, I know I'm black and blue. I bruise easily." Shane smiled and she continued. "Listen, down in the quarry… you did the right thing. The rest of 'em may be giving you a hard time but frankly… frankly I think the guy deserved it. "

"Thanks. I can't stand guys like him." Shane said. "You don't think I went overboard?"

There was something about the way he said it that made Olivia think there was something else going on, but it was none of her business so she ignored it. "Maybe a little, but I would have done the same thing. I was about ready to beat him to a pulp but you kinda beat me to the punch"

"That was horrible." Shane groaned at her pun. He started walking back up the hill, gesturing for Olivia to follow. He sure was more accepting from the man she met yesterday.

"Nah, that was comedy gold." She joked as they joined the rest of the group as they bustled around the growing fire—all working to prepare a feast of fish. "You just wouldn't recognize good humor if it slapped you in the face."

He groaned again and lightly shoved her in the shoulder. "Oh get out of here. Go help with the fish."

"Yes sir" Olivia giggled as she walked off to go help Lori with the cleaning and gutting of the fish.

There was quite a bit of fish and cooking over campfire wasn't the easiest. By the time everything was done and everyone was sitting down happily eating, the sun had long since set.

Dale was telling some kind of story related to his watch but Olivia wasn't paying attention. She was worried about Tony, and wondering if they found Merle and Jared. She almost didn't want to know.

Suddenly, the group all laughed and snapped her out of my doldrums. Amy had said something witty and was walking off to the R.V. Olivia noticed Ed still hadn't come out from sulking and she didn't mind one bit.

Suddenly Amy's scream echoed from the R.V and Olivia managed to spin around right in time see Rotter biting into her arm and neck. Blood instantly squiring out, making Olivia gag. There was a collective gasp and then shit hit the fan. People started scattering and everyone was screaming. More Rotters crept out from the R.V. and began swarming.

Olivia had had her Glock with her all day—something Tony told her to do before he left, and she was thanking the stars that she did. She stuck close to Shane and Lori—it was probably her best chance since he seemed to know his way around a gun. Olivia had no clue what else to do. There was so many of the dead, and people were screaming and running about everywhere. It was and impossible task to help them all.

Olivia tried to ignore her terror and anxiety at being unable to save everyone as the Rotters bit down on people. She pretended she was at a shooting range and the Walkers were just plastic targets. The smell of rotting flesh was enough itself to make her want to cower away in the forest. But she choked down her nausea as she mechanically shot down Walker after Walker. There was no time for sniveling babies now.

It felt like the hoards were never ending. They just kept coming and coming. Those who were lucky enough to have a weapon were doing their best to fight off the herd. Olivia heard a scream and noticed Carol holding Sophia as she dashed past the Walkers. Olivia already felt protective of the older woman and her child since earlier so without a second thought she ran after her. There was no way Olivia was letting them get the kid. She fired off round after round until she was finally get to Carol where she had collapsed into the dirt.

"Carol!" Olivia yelled shakily as she came up to hysterical woman. "Y'all alright?"

Carol sobbed, as she looked up at Olivia, her eyes wide with fear. To her—in that moment—Olivia looked like an angel. Then she saw a Walker approaching behind the younger woman. It's rotten hands grasping at the air in front of it as it drew closer. "Olivia—!" Carol tried to warn and then Olivia heard the groaning behind her. She spun around, eyes wide to meet the yellow glare of a Walker as it crashed into her. Olivia screamed as she fought to keep its rotting jaw away from her. "No!" Carol cried out, her mind blank with panic, not knowing what to do.

"Get off of me!" Olivia sobbed trying to flip it over but the thing was relentless. Nothing she could do could hurt it. Pain was not deterrence for them.

Olivia's arms were shaking with the effort when all of a sudden the Walker fell slack on top of her. She could feel its rotting flesh sticking to her own and her shirt was damp with decay. She lay there stunned, partly from what just happened but mostly from the fact that she was somehow still alive. Olivia felt hot terrified tears ran down my cheeks.

Carol was finally able to compose herself and leapt up to her feet. She was trying to jerk the thing off of Olivia while simultaneously trying to soothe her daughter. A nearly impossible task. She vaguely noticed that there were no more Walkers attacking. It seemed as if the hoard was taken care of.

Olivia continued to fight from underneath the rotting flesh when she finally felt the thing being lifted off of her, and she gasped out in relief—laying in the grass and panting.

Daryl stood above her, staring—he had been the one to shoot the thing in the head—before he held out a hand. He hadn't known it was her being attacked by the Walker but now that he saw her terrified face he felt oddly relieved. Relieved that she seemed okay. It confused him to no end. He didn't even know her.

Olivia put her shaking hand into his calloused one and let him jerk her to her feet. She felt like she was about to fall back over but she held herself together, not wanting to look weak in front of the hunter.

"Are—are you aright?" He asked awkwardly, as if he had never asked anyone that before. There was terrified tears still leaking from Olivia's eyes and he didn't know how to react to a hysterical girl.

"Fine." She whimpered, cringing at the pathetic sound and clearing her throat. "Thank you—"

"Olivia!" Daryl and Olivia heard Tony's voice scream as a body came crashing into Olivia. "Oh God, Olivia."

"Tony!" She cried as she gripped him tightly—like he was the last thing on earth. Daryl felt awkward standing there watching the two siblings. "You're alive! I was so fuckin' worried. Don't you do that again."

Olivia felt his body shake with laugher as his tears stained her shoulder. "I'm the one who should be saying that to you. I saw the whole thing. If Dixon hadn't—" He trailed off not wanting to think about it.

On that thought Tony pulled away from the hug to face Daryl who was watching the two uncomfortably. Tony wrapped one arm around Olivia and held out the other hand to the hunter—tears in his eyes. Daryl hesitantly shook his hand. He didn't know what to make of Tony. He was a large and tough looking man, but he seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve. "I can't thank you enough, Dixon. You're good enough." Tony said with a slight nod to Olivia, referring to their conversation on the way to Atlanta. Tony was feeling very emotional at the moment. He had almost seen his sister die—he would have promised Daryl anything.

Olivia listened to their conversation intently. She didn't really think about her brother's comment until she saw Daryl's face turn red. _What the hell? _She thought.

"Shut up." Daryl scoffed and looked at the ground. "And I was just killing a Walker. I wasn't bein' picky about which one."

Tony just nodded. "Well thank you nonetheless. I owe you one."

Olivia grumbled under his arm—just the presence of her brother bringing her back to life. "Stop talking like I ain't here. _I_ owe you one, Daryl. Not him. It's my neck you saved." She told him looking away from her brother.

"Nobody is owing me anything, y'here? I just killed a Walker. Simple as that."

"What the hell happened to your face?" Tony suddenly asked, putting a hand under Olivia's chin and jerking it to the side. It was swollen and beginning to purple. "This sure as hell ain't from the Walker."

Olivia noticed Carol wince out of the corner of her eye before grabbing Sophia and skulking away. The older woman was ashamed of what her husband had done. Olivia didn't care. She was just glad she managed to keep the Rotters away from them.

"Liv, wake up! What happened?"

"Oh. Um." She looked at the ground. "Me and Ed had a bit of a disagreement earlier."

Daryl was staring at the side of her face too, an angry look on his face. "Carol's husband? What the hell did _you_ disagree about?"

"Uh, he thought it's okay to hit your wife. I disagreed." Olivia mumbled to him, slapping Tony's hand away.

"Did you get him back?" Tony asked, a scowl on his freckled face.

Olivia suddenly grinned, glad to have her old brother back. "Oh yeah. Decked him in the eye. Shane took care of him pretty good, too."

"You always did have a mean right hook." Tony chuckled lowly.

Daryl just looked between the siblings with disbelief before storming away. "Y'all are unbelievable." He couldn't believe they were so casual about the fact Ed had hit her.

Tony and Olivia chuckled at his retreating back before she remembered where they were. Her smile quickly fell from her lips as she gazed around. Everything was destroyed. Tents were torn up, tables were knocked over and bodies were strewn about. People were sobbing next to their loved ones and Olivia instantly felt guilty. What if she had just taken one more shot? Killed one more walker?

"Come on." Tony said sadly, tears of sorrow beginning to streak his face. "Let's go see what we can do."

Together they went up to the group of those who were still alive—which wasn't that much. They stood in a circular formation near the R.V. and Andrea who was sobbing over her sister's body. Everyone was shaken. Weapons were gripped tightly with white knuckles and nobody was willing to relax. Tony knew he wouldn't until the sun came up.

The whole night was spent like that. Nobody daring to close their eyes. There were always three people on look out at all times. Loved ones were kept within arms distance. Nobody was willing to let them go.

It was a hell of a night and Olivia only managed to get some shuteye when Tony let her lean against him. Frankly, he was the only one she trusted at the moment.

The sun was welcomed back with much relief. The group still weren't safe but at least they could see. And the pain really settled in. They still had the job of dealing with the dead.

Glenn and T-Dog had started a huge bonfire to start burning the bodies. Tony and Olivia joined them—digging graves for loved ones. Andrea still hadn't moved from her sister and she had pulled a gun on Rick when he tried to get her to move. She wouldn't leave Amy until the very end.

As the day went on it was pretty evident tensions were running high. Tony and Olivia tried to avoid the others. They didn't know what to say to them. Instead, they dug grave after grave under the hot sun. It wasn't until Olivia started on a third that she heard Dixon shout. "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!"

"Oh God. Tony!" Hearing about Daryl's brother sparked her own memory. She spun around to her brother as his head shot up. "Jared?"

He wiped a hand over his sweaty head and stuck his shovel in the ground. "He, uh, wasn't there. He got out." Relief washed over Olivia, but Tony continued. "But, Liv… Jenny—Jenny didn't. She was bit or something. Found her in the apartment. Jared, I think—he—he took care of it."

She felt her heart sink. Jared and Jenny had been together for about seven years. Olivia remembered him saying he was going to marry her one-day. She couldn't imagine what he must be feeling—having to be the one to put her down.

"So, now what?" She asked, trying not to think about Jenny. "Where do we go now?"

Tony sighed, picking his shovel back up to start digging again. "I was thinking we should stick with this group." He revealed. "Jared wouldn't even begin to know where to start looking for us."

"He'd try Chicago." Olivia stressed to her brother—not wanting to give up on Jared. "He knew you were in Chicago last—he'd go there."

"Or he might go to Denver where your last zip code was. Or maybe he found a safe place around here." Tony argued realistically. "Fact is, we just don't know, Liv. But I think our best chances are with these people."

"So what? We're just going to forget about Jared?" She yelled, throwing her arms out.

Tony groaned as he threw his shovel back down. "You know that ain't true, Liv. I'm just trying to be realistic—"

"_Realistic?_" Olivia raged, cutting him off. "You don't think I'm being _realistic_? Well I am, Tony! I'm thinking about my baby brother all alone out there, heartbroken, and trying to find us! I ain't giving up on him!"

"Neither am I!" Tony yelled, angry now. "Don't you ever think I would give up on him! On you! But there is a chance he may be around here somewhere. And I think we have to check before we go off gallivanting across the country!"

Olivia felt ashamed now. Of course Tony would never neglect his family. He had the biggest heart of them all. And he did have a point—Jared could be holed up somewhere around Atlanta. Maybe he had found a group of his own. "Look, Tony, I didn't mean—"

She began to apologize but was interrupted by Jacqui calling out. "A Walker got him! A Walker bit Jim!" She cried.

Tony and Olivia exchanged looks before jogging to the rest of the group to investigate Jim. He was protesting, trying to assure everyone he was okay. The group couldn't take his word for it, though and ganged up on him until Daryl as able to lift his shirt. On his torso was the imprint of teeth and blood was dripping from it. It was infected. Everyone fell silent—a grim sense of foreboding.

Jim slowly went and sat by the R.V., trying to calm himself down while the rest of the group discussed his fate. It felt wrong to Tony—talking about the fate of a living man.

Rick eventually suggested taking him to the C.D.C—the Centre for Disease Control. Tony and Olivia instantly agreed—it was exactly the type of place Jared would try but Shane was against it.

Everyone slowly trickled back to dealing with the dead. Olivia hade noticed Carol hitting her husband repeatedly over the head with Daryl's pickaxe and Olivia smiled. Good for her. Andrea however had shot her sister in the head when she came back and didn't seem like she could handle it. Olivia didn't blame her.

Finally, a small funeral was held to mourn last night's loss. Jim was only getting worse. Rick, Shane, and Tony had gone off to do a sweep of the woods—looking for Walkers. When they came back a while later it seemed they had come to a decision. The group was taking Jim to the C.D.C

Olivia couldn't be happier. That seemed like the next logical place to find Jared. And in the end of the world, that's all she really cared about. Making sure her family was okay.


	7. Safe in New York City

**Safe in New York City**

_"All over the city and down to the dives  
Don't mess with this place it'll eat you alive  
Got lip smackin' honey to soak up the jam  
On top of the world ma' ready to slam"_

_-Safe in New York City, AC/DC_

**Just wanted to say that I used Max Brook's "__**World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War"**__**as a reference for this chapter! Brilliant read! Check it out!****  
****

****-Delaney :)****

* * *

Tony had a singing voice that sounded like cats wailing. He was god-awful. But that never stopped him before and it sure as hell didn't now. In the past, he always sang when Jared and Olivia were sad. He knew as soon as he started to even hum a few bars, Jared and her would be laughing—begging him to stop.

Sometimes he did it for himself, too. He was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve and sometimes it came out in song—especially for AC/DC. Which made it worse. Tony thought he could match Bon Scott pitch for pitch. But he couldn't. God, he was nowhere close.

And that was the case for this unbearably long car ride. As soon as he had left the camp he had popped in his old cassette tape and began wailing his heart out. It was terrible. Olivia tried protesting—her head was pounding. But, he refused, the asshole. Olivia realized that he wasn't just trying to keep_ her_ mind off of the horror of last night with his singing—but his own mind too. He'd never admit it, but he was a big teddy bear and very emotional. Olivia couldn't ask him to stop.

After hours of driving the R.V. decided to break down—smoke billowing out of the hood. Tony pulled off ahead of the camper, finally stopping with his horrible ballad.

"Shit." He swore as he and Olivia got out to go check out the damage. "We were supposed to grab the radiator hose from the cube van when we were done with it."

Olivia nodded sympathetically at him. He had told her how they found Merle's hand (Tony squirmed as he told her this) on the roof and the incident with the Vatos group there. Frankly Olivia was impressed with Merle. Guy's got to be built with some pretty tough stuff if he can cut off his own hand and still find time to steal a van.

Everyone was gathered around the R.V. and Tony offered to take a look. He _had_ been a mechanic once upon a time. But he just emerged later shaking his head. "Yeah. Radiator hose is blown. Needs a new one. But y'all already knew that."

"I did say we'd never get far on that hose. We needed the one from the cube van."

Shane spotted a gas station up and ahead and went off looking for replacement parts and came back with jerry cans full of gas and duct tape. It wasn't much but Tony was able to path the hose back up.

The only problem left was Jim. He was a dead man walking. Shane and Rick had brought him out of the R.V. He was in too much pain and just wanted the group to leave him to die. And as much as Olivia hated the thought, she agreed. There was no way he was going to make the trip and they would just be causing further problems if they tried.

Everyone said their painful good-byes. Olivia had expressed her pleasure in knowing him and left him with a parting kiss on the cheek. With heavy hearts everyone started moving back to their vehicles.

Olivia halted in her movements though. She was tired and her head was pounding—the heat didn't help. Tony was going to be singing, especially more so now—there was a whole second side of the cassette he hadn't gotten to and Olivia was cringing just imagining his screeching. Tony noticed her hesitation and tilted his head at her. "What's up?"

"Would you mind if I hitched a ride with someone else? I've got a killer headache and—"

"I'm still on side A. Yeah, I get it. Geez I thought you loved my voice." He joked, nudging her with his shoulder—he didn't mind one bit she was ditching him. He kind of wanted some time alone, anyways.

"Oh, yes. It's just lovely." She quipped. "See you in a couple of hours!" Olivia said as she looked around at the vehicles—deciding on whom to ask. Most of the cars were full and she didn't feel like going in the R.V. or with Shane in his jeep. Dixon was the only one left. Olivia walked up to him as he tossed a few things in the trunk. "Hey Daryl. Uh… could I get a ride with you?"

"What's wrong with the one you got?" He looked at her like she was crazy. Then he thought of what Tony had said when he saved Olivia's life. "Did your brother put you up to this?"

Olivia gave him a weird look and he knew that wasn't it. He was confused why she was asking _him_. "Did he put me up to this? If by that you mean being forced to listen to him ruining AC/DC and Led Zeppelin for three hours, then yeah. He did. Seriously. I think my ears are bleeding."

He stared for a few seconds before giving a slight smirk and turning back to what he was doing. "Get in." He grunted. He didn't want to admit it, but she had caught his attention.

Not needing to be told twice Olivia jumped into Daryl's ford and rested her pounding head against the cool glass of the window. Daryl jumped in not to long after and drove off—following the others.

"That's a nice bike, you got." She told him, not opening her eyes. "Triumph, right? Custom build?"

Daryl just grunted in response. "Merle's."

"From what I here that explains the insignia, then." Olivia looked over at him. "I am sorry about Merle. It's bullshit they left him."

"Sorry about your brother, too"

They sat in silence for a while. It was nice. Olivia could just imagine Tony working his way through another rendition of 'Thunderstruck' and utterly destroying it. Just thinking about it hurt her ears.

"You, uh, you know about cars and stuff?" Daryl asked awkwardly after a while, shocking Olivia out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"You know enough about Merle's bike." He grunted, wishing he hadn't bothered asking. "And you seemed to know what your brother was doing back there with the R.V."

"Oh. Yeah. That's what you get for growing up with all boys, I guess." Olivia kept it short; Daryl didn't really seem like the type to hold a steady conversation with. Besides he was doing her a favour letting her drive with him. She didn't want to anger him.

"Tony did mention something about y'all moving around a lot when you were younger." He surprised her by continuing the conversation.

"Hmm. Dad's job took him all over. We got dragged around with him. Sometimes, it felt like that Caprice was more home to us than any house." Daryl just grunted and it was quiet again. An uncomfortable silence this time. They were both walking on broken glass around each other. "What about you? What's your story?"

"What about nothing'!" He said suddenly, his voice starting to rise with anger and Olivia knew she had asked the wrong thing. "My childhood ain't no one's business but my own!"

"Alright." She said calmly, not wanting to upset him. She had seen this type of defensiveness in some of the troubled children she had worked with in the past. It made her think Daryl's childhood was no better than her own. Olivia was a bit pissed that he snapped at her; and even angrier at the fact that it had gotten to her in the first place. Daryl's opinion shouldn't mean anything to her. But she was quickly finding that for some reason it was.

Daryl sensed the change in mood and groaned. He guessed Olivia _was_ like every other women he ever met; moody as fuck. "Listen, woman. I ain't mean to snap at you. Just rather keep something's to myself."

"Don't apologize." She told him stiffly. "I get it. Really, I do."

"Alright."

She returned her gaze back to the scenery and leaned against the window. She really was exhausted. It had been nearly fort-eight hours now since she got a decent sleep in.

Daryl watched the woman out of the corner of his eye nervously. This drive would be much longer if they were at odds with each other.

He took in her fiercely bruised cheek and her filthy brown hair. Despite her grimy appearance he couldn't help think she was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Almost doe-like. She was a tiny thing, but her temper and language made up for that. She had a mess of brown hair with pretty almond-shaped blue eyes.

He shook his head. He just hadn't seen many women since the world turned to shit. Of course any woman he did see would look like a goddess to him.

* * *

"Rise and shine, kiddo!" Tony's voice shook Olivia awake in what felt like minutes later. "You're slobbering all over Dixon's window!"

"I am not." She protested as she wiped the saliva off of her chin. "I don't drool."

Tony just laughed as he jerked her out of the truck. Everyone else—including Daryl—had gotten out and were cautiously peering around. Olivia took the moment to take a look around.

It was terrible. There were bodies _everywhere_. It looked like a war zone. Sandbags had been piled up as an attempt at protection and it obviously hadn't worked. Everyone was dead. The group all moved forward around the bodies, trying to ignore the potent smell. The bodies were pretty far along in there decay, which meant they had been there for a while. Weeks, maybe months. There were more flies buzzing around than in a barnyard.

A lot of the dead were dressed in military gear and there were tanks just lying around. Not even the army could stop the Walkers. What hope did the C.D.C have? Tony and Olivia stopped to get a closer look at them. The soldiers were wearing heavy armor and what looked like gas masks.

"Is that a head set?" Olivia wondered, nudging the dead man's head with her foot.

Tony crouched down and looked closely at the man's helmet. "It's equipped with the Land Warrior." He stood up and sighed. "Poor bastards."

Olivia knew Tony felt camaraderie with these fallen soldiers and she smiled sadly at him. "Because of the Zombs?"

"Yeah. And this whole situation." He gestured wildly around. "They are set up on the _ground_. Zombies can't climb as far as I know. Why weren't they on the _roof_? And this equipment—it's only good to a certain length. Look how bulky it is… they couldn't run away in these… could they even see out of those masks?"

He was mumbling to himself now but Olivia could see his point. This situation seemed like it had been poorly planned—and perhaps rushed.

"The Land Warrier, too… that would have been terrifying. It's got a radio in it—they would have been able to hear each other dying, screaming, begging for help..."

Olivia reached out and rubbed a comforting hand on his shoulder. This was hard on him. "Come on." She said softly. "We need to catch up with the others.

Ignoring their nausea they quickly caught up and made it up to the fancy building—only to find it completely locked down. Airtight seals and everything. Rick took that as a sign that people were in there. He banged the door a couple of times.

"Walkers!" Daryl suddenly shouted and Sophia let out a cry. He quickly took care of it before shouting at Rick. "You led us into a graveyard!"

Panicked yelling broke out and it didn't help that the sun was setting. What were they supposed to do? If they fired their guns, it would just attract more of the Rotters and they would be swarmed. Sticking close to Tony, Olivia looked around for something to help. The others began making their way back to the vehicles right as she saw the camera move.

"The camera!" Rick called, also seeing it. "It moved!"

Dale shook his head. "You imagined it."

"I saw it, too!" Olivia supported Rick. "It moved."

"I know you're in there! I know you can hear me!" Rick pleaded. "Please, we're desperate! Please help us! We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left!" Lori rushed up to him, trying to get him to come. "If you don't let us in, you're killing us!"

Shane came up and grabbed Rick, pulling him with him as he continued to scream. More Walkers had taken notice and were quickly approaching. The others were panicking as they limped towards them. Olivia groaned, seeing that the doors were not opening and systematically fired off the rifle she had, every bullet hitting a Walker between the eyes. _Thanks for the training, Pops_, she thought sarcastically. As she put her gun down—satisfied with her work—she felt eyes on her. Olivia turned and met Daryl's eyes. He gave her a stern nod.

The group was starting to move away from the building when the doors finally creaked open. It was the most beautiful fucking thing Tony had ever seen. A shining ray of hope in a dark world.

The group exchanged looks before rushing in and looking around at the immaculate foyer. It was a sharp contrast to the chaos outside. It was shiny, modern, _clean_. Outside was hell. Plain and simple.

"Hello?" Rick yelled out once they were all inside.

From the top of the stairs came the sound of someone loading a round to the their gun. Those of the group who had guns aimed them in that direction. In the shadows was an outline of a man holding a gun. "Anybody infected?" He called out.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick answered.

"In other words, no." Tony said plainly. "None of us are infected."

The man paused, finding humour in what Tony said. He took the group in as he slowly walked down the stairs. Tony had his arm in front of Olivia, keeping her behind him. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance." Rick pleaded.

The man looked at them as he thought. He had a bulky body and a handsome face. "That's asking a lot these days. You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Not needing to be asked twice everyone scrambled out the doors and grabbing everything they needed—which wasn't much. They had lost a lot of supplies back at the camp.

The blood tests they had to do weren't bad at all. Just a prick in the arm. Olivia really didn't understand why they had to them in the first place. It was pretty obvious none of them were infected. Screw protocol.

Dr. Jenner—as the man introduced himself—was the only one left in this place. No one else. The others left or… opted out, as Jenner called it. Tony couldn't imagine ever having to come to that.

He was kind enough to share some of his food and—much to Tony and Olivia's excitement—his booze. And everybody was drinking. Frankly, they needed something to take the edge off from the last couple of nights they had. Olivia knew she was on her way to a healthy buzz.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little wine with dinner. And in France!" Dale laughed as he poured Lori another glass.

She just laughed and shook her head. "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

"What's it going to hurt? Come on!" Rick argued and the group all laughed along at the look Lori gave him. "What?"

Lori eventually gave in and let Carl have a drink of wine—which he was disgusted with to everyone's amusement and Lori's pleasure.

"It's alright, kid." Tony laughed. "Wine is an acquired taste. We'll find something to your liking, don't you worry."

"Probably not whiskey, eh Tony?" Olivia joined in, laughing at the memory. "That was _our_ first drink, kid. Found it in Dad's closet when I was fourteen. I can still feel it burning my throat."

Tony let out a deep laugh. "Dad didn't go for the cheap stuff, that's for sure."

Lori just shook her head in good humour. "There is no way you two are getting anywhere near Carl with alcohol. I have a feeling you don't know the meaning of drinking for leisure."

"I'll drink to that!" Olivia sang jokingly as she took a swig of the Southern Comfort she was nursing. The group raised their glasses laughing and Carl just scrunched his nose up again.

"Just stick to soda-pop there, kid." Shane said, folding his hands. He was clearly not as jolly as the rest of the group.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl called out as he poured another glass. "Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Glenn chuckled in good humour and the group gave out a light laugh.

"How refreshing." Tony chuckled into his wine. "It's never a party without a little bit of racism, I always say."

The laughter slowly died down and Olivia stared down into her drink. Her thoughts returned to Jim and the War Zone outside. She made a mental note to ask Jenner about that. It was amazing how much destruction there was and just how apocalyptic it was. She quickly chugged the rest of the alcohol and set it down with a clang and a deep sigh.

She was staring steadily at the ground when another Southern Comfort was shoved into her hands. Olivia looked up to Daryl who was squinting down at her. "You drink up too, Oakley." He had been watching her, and could practically _see_ the dark thoughts turning in her head.

She quirked her head at him as her lips twitched into a smirk—her depressed thoughts disappearing. "Oakley?" She questioned.

"Like Annie Oakley. Y'know, the old, sharpshooter chick." He shrugged, the alcohol clearly putting him in a better mood.

"I know who Annie Oakley is, Dixon." Olivia laughed—liking this light-hearted Daryl. "Why the fuck are you calling me that?"

He shrugged again before taking another swig of his Southern Comfort. "Before. You didn't waste a bullet taking down those Walkers."

Olivia rolled those pretty eyes of hers. "Yeah, well that's what you get growing up with a father who thinks the best way to raise kids is to work them like soldiers. Never know when the fucking Zombie apocalypse is going to happen."

"At least you can look after yourself." Daryl just shook his head letting out a breath almost like a chuckle. He looked at her through the corner of his eyes. "Well, 'cept that one time." He jested.

Olivia groaned before turning to hit him in the arm. Her attack made him jump but he couldn't say he disliked the sensation. "I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I? You save my life one fucking time and suddenly it's a big deal." She grunted at him, sarcastically.

This time he really laughed. "'Course it is. You wouldn't be alive, if not for me. You best be a bit nicer to me."

Olivia rolled my eyes. "However can I repay you, Daryl fucking Dixon? I am ever so indebted to you!"

"If you can convince that brother of yours to let me drive that car of his, you can consider ourselves even." Other ways of her repaying him crossed his mind and he blamed the alcohol as he pushed them aside.

"Using me for the Caprice." She sighed, shaking her head as Rick stood up. "Wish I could say that's a first."

"It seems we haven't properly thanked our host." Rick spoke, successfully ending the first decent conversation between Daryl and Olivia that hadn't ended in yelling. Daryl felt slight annoyance at the sheriff as he walked back to his spot.

Everyone was quick to raise their glasses in the air and Olivia was not far behind them. No Walkers, plenty of booze; this place was heaven, and Jenner a God. "He is more than just a host!" T-Dog said joyfully. "Here is to you, Doc!"

"Boo-yah!" Daryl cried out, swinging his bottle around and everyone followed, clinking their glasses.

"So when are you going to tell us what the hell happened here, Doc?" Shane asked, successfully ruining the happy mood. "All the other—uh, Doctors, were supposed to be figuring out what happened… where are they?" Tony was wondering that too but figured there was a better time to ask.

"We're celebrating Shane." Rick protested. "Don't need to do this now."

Shane just glared at his friend. "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here—right? This was your move—supposed to find all of the answers. Instead we—uh—we found him." He gestured towards Jenner with a bitter laugh. He was still upset that everyone chose to side with Rick instead of him. "Found one man. Why?"

Jenner sighed, rubbing a hand over his chin. "Well, when thing's got bad, a lot of people just—left. Went off to be with their families. Then when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." His eyes were distant.

"Every last one?" Shane scoffed.

Jenner shot him a defiant look. "No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They… opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

Shaking her head at his words, Olivia took a deep pull from her bottle. Maybe if she drank enough, things would be different. The group was sullen now, the celebrations quickly over. "You stayed." Andrea said. "Why?"

Jenner looked down. "I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

"Good on you, man." Tony leaned forward on his arms. "Can I ask what happened outside? It looks like a failed attempt at defense."

Jenner nodded solemnly. "I don't know too much about it but it was supposed to part of 'Phase One' in controlling the dead. Keep them at minimal levels while we work on the cure. The men outside? They were supposed to be the last resort. Get any of the Dead that slipped through the other defenses. Obviously that didn't work out."

Tony whistled through his teeth and Olivia looked at the doctor with confusion. "Well they were set up on the ground protected by fu—sorry Lori," Tony began to swear before seeing the look the mother shot him. "Frickin' sandbags. From what I can tell that ain't gonna do much against the Rotters. Why weren't they set up on rooftops?"

Jenner looked at Tony with an intrigued expression. "They were fighting it like they do every other war."

"Are they stupid?" Tony cut him off. "Shock and awe ain't going to work against something that doesn't feel anything. And grenades and shit—sorry Lori—ain't going to work unless they get 'im in the brains. And Sudden Nerve Trauma wouldn't do anything against them."

Jenner shot him a confused look. "You sure know a lot about that kind of stuff? Were you a soldier?"

Tony shrugged. "Four years in my early twenties. Then switched over to being a mechanic. Liked that better." He cried the day his active duty was over. He was a soft man—though he denied it—and being overseas had nearly wrecked him. He was never truly the same person he was before he went overseas. In fact, he was still recovering. But their Dad had wanted him to be a soldier. And what their Dad wanted, their Dad got.

Jenner nodded, as everyone got silent. "You are such a buzz kill, dude." Glenn grumbled at Shane.

And with that the party was over. With movement akin to the Rotters outside, everyone slowly cleared up their cutlery and polished off their glasses. Tony helped Olivia to her feet as she stumbled up—not aware of how much she actually drank and Jenner led the group down a hall to show them where they could set up camp.

"Most of the facility is powered down." Jenner told them as they hauled their belonging down the lit up hallway. "Including housing, so you'll have to make due here. The couches are comfortable but there are cots in storage if you like."

"Tony. Make yourself useful for once and get me a cot." Olivia mumbled sleepily as she leaned into her brother's side. She was fairly drunk.

Jenner continued. "There's a rec room down the hall that the kid's might like. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. Same goes for the showers: if you shower go easy on the hot water." With a final nod he turned and left, leaving them to their devices.

Glenn turned to the rest of the group with a gleeful smile. "Hot water?"

Tony nearly pushed Olivia into the wall as he ran to the room they were going to be sharing. "Dibs on first shower!" He called over his shoulder as he found the bathroom.

"I'll have one in the morning." She told him gaily with a laugh, throwing herself down on the couch—too exhausted to go in search for a cot. "I'm too drunk to truly appreciate that shower."

Tony laughed at her as she snuggled into the cushions. He brought her a glass of water and threw a blanket over her. "Drink some water before you fall asleep." He had done this thousands of times before. He was always the big brother—always taking care of Jared and her.

"I love you, Tony." She mumbled as she reached for the water.

"I always forget how friendly you are when you're drunk. Too bad it doesn't last."

"Shut up." She grumbled at him. "What did you say to Dixon?"

He flopped down on the couch next to me. 'What do you mean?"  
"I don't know. The way you two talk makes it seem like I missed a conversation."

Tony was quiet for a couple minutes, remembering, before he burst out laughing. "Oh, right! On the way to Atlanta I told him you have a crush on him."

Olivia groaned, leaning back into the couch again. "Ugh, I don't! Seriously? End of the fuckin' world and you still find time to tease me?"

"Never a better a time, I think." He patted her on the knee before getting up to take a shower. "Sleep tight, Liv."

She watched as he closed the door behind him before sighing and staring up at the ceiling. Things were turning to shit real quick. She just hoped that Jared was out there somewhere, safe. Tomorrow, Tony and Olivia would need to have a conversation about what their next step was. She didn't care how safe this place was. She wasn't going to stop looking until she had her baby brother beside her.


	8. Skies on Fire

**Skies on Fire**

_"Skies on Fire  
Flames burn higher  
Skies on Fire  
Flames burn higher_"

\- _Skies on Fire, AC/DC_

* * *

The shower the next morning was something out of a dream. Never would Olivia take hot water for advantage again. It felt like hours were passing as she stood under the steaming stream of water, massaging her limbs until they were red and scrubbing the grime out her hair. Her head was aching dully from the alcohol she had consumed the night before and her stomach wasn't too happy with her either. When she finally got out Olivia felt like a whole new person, despite her slight hangover.

She had gotten up before most of the others—T-Dog was in the kitchen cooking—and decided to see if she could find Jenner. Maybe he knew something about Jared. Olivia padded around the halls in bare feet—loving the vague feeling of normalcy before coming up to the rec room where she heard soft voices talking.

She peeked into the room and saw Sophia and Carl leaning over some sort of magazine filled with pictures. Since they weren't allowed to plug in the video games it was the most they could do at the moment. "Hey there." Olivia greeted as their little heads shot up and gave her a wary look. Clearly she hadn't given the best first impression. "Shoot guys, I ain't gonna bite. I know I talk a big game but I'm really a big teddy bear."

They continued to stare as she flopped down on the couch near them. Their parents hadn't asked but she figured it might be a good idea to talk to them—see how they're doing. It _had _been her job once upon a time. "Good morning, Olivia." Sophia said politely after a beat.

"What are you two up to so early in the morning?" They looked at each other and gave vague shrugs. Olivia looked at them before deciding that they were just being kids—waking up early and all. Not because of nightmares. There was nothing to worry about there. "Well, what are you reading? Anything good?"

"National Geographic." Carl answered sourly, flipping through the pages in a dull manner.

Sophia just watched him. "There are pretty pictures." She sighed. "But it's kind of boring. All the books are, really."

Olivia got up and looked through the shelf—most of the books being educational or self-help. There were a few of the classics scattered around but nothing really that would entertain children. That was the job for the video games, apparently. She noticed _"The Outsiders" _by S.E. Hinton and grabbed it, stuffing it into her jacket's cargo pocket. It was a good one for teenagers to read and figured they could at some point.

The two kids were looking at her curiously. Olivia was somewhat of an anomaly to them. She entertained them from a distance with her fiery temper and quick witticisms. But up close they felt intimidated.

As she turned back around and she shot them a large grin. "Well, why the heck are you readin' when there is so much more we could do? This is the first time those pesky Geeks haven't been a threat and I for one think we should take advantage of that." They were kids, after all, and deserved to have a bit of fun. Especially in this shit world.

"What can we do?" Carl asked. "Doctor Jenner said we can't plug in anything."

"I guess we'll have to play it old school then, won't we." Olivia looked around the room and at the furniture. "I'm seeing a lot of couches with some sturdy looking cushions. Sophia, I'm putting you on pillow and blanket duty. You gather up as many as you can. Make sure no one notices you. Top secret mission, y'see."

Sophia hesitated, looking at Olivia curiously before she darted out of the room. "Carl. Me and you are going to gather those cushions and build up some walls and floors."

Carl watched as Olivia started pulling a table closer to the couches and moving around the furniture in what she thought would make a good barrier to drape pillows and cushions on. "We're building a fort?" He asked, a smile breaking across his face.

"Heck yeah, we're building a fort!" She laughed as she plucked the pillows off of the couch and threw them playfully at him. "Now are you going to stand there or are you going help, little man?"

He hurried over and helped pull the cushions off of the couch and set them up between the couches. "Doctor Jenner won't be mad?"

"You heard him yesterday, didn't you? He's terrified of you." Olivia joked, earning a grin from the kid. "Besides, if he does get mad, we'll just hide out in our fort. He won't find us here."

Sophia came walking back into the room—pillows and blankets draped all over her small frame. She was barely visible. Olivia laughed and jumped up to help take them from her. Together, the two kids and Olivia worked to build a small pillow fort. She was focusing on making them laugh. They were surprisingly well adjusted—especially Sophia despite the loss of her Dad. Olivia just wanted to make sure they had some good memories to make up for all the bad ones they were getting.

"You know." She said casually as they draped a blanket over the last bit of our fort—the finishing touches. "The first pillow fort was built in 1861 in Tennessee and named after General Gideon Johnson Pillow. Neat, right?"

That was an exaggeration of the truth but it was fun to joke around. They had warmed up to her as they built the fort together and now were freely giggling and making jokes. It was nice to see.

"You're lying." Sophia giggled.

"I would never!" Olivia clutched her heart and gasped theatrically as they laughed. "The thought that you would accuse me of such treachery! I—I—I'm speechless! This means war!" She grabbed a pillow and swung it gently into Sophia's side. This action proved to unleash a dam as suddenly both kids were attacking her with pillows and giggling the whole time.

This was how Lori and Carol found them ten minutes later—Olivia curled up into a ball covering her head while the two kids pummeled her with pillows. The fort was demolished and the rec room was a disaster.

"What the heck happened here?" Lori gasped as Sophia and Carl turned guiltily to their mothers—hiding their pillows behind their backs.

"It was Liv's idea!" Carl said urgently, pointing at her. Sophia was giving a fervid nod. Olivia sat back on her knees and grinned at Carol and Lori as they shot her amused glances.

"Tattletale!" Olivia laughed snatching Carl's pillow and hitting him lightly with it. She turned back to the mothers. "And actually, the whole thing was Tony's idea." She told them, blaming her brother. "And he'll be happy to clean it up."

"Really? Tony did this?" Carol laughed at the woman's antics. "Because Tony just woke up and is eating breakfast now. Speaking of which—you two get before everything is gone." The children exchanged glances before dashing off to the dinning room.

Olivia laughed as they ran before standing up and began putting the couches back into place. Carol and Lori came to help her. "Thank you for doing that." Carol told her. There was so much she felt she owed Olivia. "You could hear their laughter up and down the halls. Haven't heard that in a while."

"My pleasure." Olivia smiled kindly at her as they finished up cleaning the wrecked fort. "They're still kids despite the harsh times—they deserve to be able to act like it once in a while."

"Well, thank you, none-the-less." Lori told her as they began heading down to the dining room. "It sure means a lot."

Most of the gang was settled in the dimly lit mess hall—digging into whatever T-Dog could scrounge up. Olivia's stomach turned at the thought of food. Her hangover was still rearing its nasty heard. But she figured she should try and eat—never know when you're going to get your next meal. Besides, T-Dog had worked really hard on this meal.

Lori went and sat down to Carl who shot Olivia a grin and Rick came walking in. Glenn was groaning in the corner—Daryl's forcing him to drink clearly having its intended effect.

"So, Tony." Carol started as she sent Olivia a wink. "Olivia here tells me it was your idea to build a pillow fort and trash the rec room?"

"A pillow fort?" T-Dog asked as he scooped eggs onto her plate. "Why wasn't I invited?"

"You were making me eggs." Olivia told him with a wink. "I needed you here."

The others laughed but Tony sent his sister a dark scowl. "You blamed me? Why must you always blame me?"

"'Cause it's always your fault."

"It's never my fault!" Tony said, his voice raising in volume much to Glenn's discomfort. He turned to look at the others. "She once dinged her car door trying to get out of her work's parking lot. She had the guts to blame me in the police report. I was across the country at the time!"

The group laughed at the sibling's antics. They were never short entertainment with those two around. Olivia rolled her eyes at her brother. "You had visited the week before and moved the parking pass in my car. I got flustered when I couldn't find it and hit a pole. It _was_ your fault!"

Tony just scowled at her as he muttered into his eggs. Olivia polished off her own small meal and walked her plate over to the dirty pile. As she passed Tony she swooped down and kissed his cheek and he just swatted playfully at her much to the group's amusement.

"Jenner in there?" Olivia asked, gesturing to the room with all of the fancy computers and Dale shrugged. With a slight nod she pushed her way into the room with more technology than she could understand. "Doctor?" Olivia called out. "You in here?"

"Over here!" A voice rang out and she followed it to find Jenner crouched down over one of the computers. "Good morning."

"Morning, Doc." She greeted. "What are you doing?"

"Just checking up on things." He said vaguely as he closed off whatever he was doing. He must have noticed Olivia's suspicious look because he smiled and stood up. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, well. I was wondering about my other brother, Jared. He was living in Atlanta and Tony and I think he would have tried coming here. He was a doctor, if that helps."

Jenner nodded, taking in her words. "When we got the first cases of the disease we stopped letting people in. But I'll check. Vi? Look in the list of occupants for a—" He trailed off.

"Jared Bridges." Olivia supplied instantly.

"A Doctor Jared Bridges."

It was quiet for a few moments as the computer searched before the female voice spoke out. "Identity not found."

Jenner turned to Olivia with a sympathetic look on his face. "I—am so sorry."

She looked down at her bare feet and scrunched her toes. "It's alright. It was kind of a long shot. Was everyone who came here catalogued?" She asked hopefully, praying that there was a chance people were overlooked.

"Yes. And no one was let in once we went into lockdown. Listen, I know what it's like to lose someone close to you—." He started sympathetically.

"And I'm sorry for you." She snapped at him, not liking the direction this conversation seemed to be taking. "But there is no way in hell Jared is dead, and no way in hell I'm going to give up on him."

Jenner held up his hands in surrender. "I meant no offence."

Olivia stared at him before looking down at her feet. "They're eating breakfast in the other room." She offered him lamely as an apology; Jared was a sore subject for her. "There may be some left."

He nodded after a moment and gestured for her to go first and followed her to the dinning room. The group greeted him warmly.

"Hey, Doc. I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing in the morning." Dale started.

Jenner sighed as he scooped eggs onto his plate. "But you will anyway." He said cynically.

Andrea caught his tone. "We didn't come here for the eggs." She said, shooting him a stern look.

Jenner turned around and looked around at the group. He seemed to be having a debate with himself before he nodded, looking at the ground and set his plate back onto the counter. "Let me show you what we've—I've—been doing. It's the best I can do."

The group quickly polished off their plates and followed Jenner back into the tech room filled with computers. He walked up to one and fiddled around with the buttons. "Give me playback of TS-19." He said to the computer once it beeped. The computer—Vi, Olivia guessed—repeated his instructions and a big screen lit up in front of us. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

Olivia walked over and hopped up on a desk next to her brother and they exchanged looks. Maybe this information would give them some answers on what the fuck was going on in this world.

The screen began showing body scans and an in depth analysis of a brain with all of it's neurons firing.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked, proud he was able to identify the information.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner smiled at the kid, a note of pride in his voice. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

The computer zoomed up on a side view of the brain and Tony glanced around at the others. Shane was pacing in the back and Daryl was off on the other side of the doctor in front of an ominous looking clock giving off a countdown.

The enhanced image of the brain was amazing—the best Olivia had ever seen. She remembered one year Jared had gotten an MRI—the students had been testing it on each other—and had proudly shown off his results. That looked like a child's drawing compared to this.

Everyone was silent as the computer continued to zoom into different areas of the brain until the neurons and synapses were clearly seen—firing off impulses every second. It was beautiful.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked—having never seen anything like it.

"Neurons firing." Olivia mumbled still gazing wondrously at the screen.

Tony chuckled at her and nudged her side. "Nerd." He murmured and she rolled her eyes. She had taken psychology in university, of course she had learned about the brain.

Jenner nodded at Olivia. "It's a person's life—experiences, memories. It's everything." He paced in front of the room like he was giving a lecture or something. He clearly loved what he did. Well, at some point in time he did, anyway. "Somewhere in all of that organic wiring, all of those ripples of light, is you—the thing that makes you unique. And human."

The group was silent for a beat before Daryl grunted. "You don't make sense ever?" Tony rolled his eyes at him. Jenner made perfect sense but he guessed the redneck didn't care for a frilly explanations. He just wanted a straight answer.

"Those are synapses." Jenner stated plainly. "Electric impulses in the brain that carry all of the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death? Is that what this is? A vigil?" Rick asked, pacing towards the doctor who just nodded.

"Yes." He stared at the screen. "Or rather a playback of a vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea asked, her voice cracking. "Who?"

Jenner frowned and returned his gaze to the screen. "Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected… and volunteered to have us record the process."

"So what about the Rotters, then?" Tony asked folding his arms against his broad chest. "Those things—synapses or whatever—have to keep firing for them to up and move, right? But how's that possible if they're dead?"

Jenner paused for a second. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

The computer sped forward and suddenly there was something dark slowly spreading across the brain of the test subject—starting from the stem and making its way out. The lights of the synapses slowly dying out.

"What is that?" Glenn asked in awe.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenner explained. "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." Suddenly, all the lights went out. The brain was completely dark—dead. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be—gone."

The group was silent and Tony tried to not be reminded about the events that occurred the past couple days. He shifted his gaze to the ceiling and began singing AC/DC in his head. Andrea on the other side of the room stifled a sob—it reminded her all too much of Amy. "She lost somebody two days ago." Lori was saying. "Her sister."

"I lost somebody too." Jenner offered—as he had done before with Olivia. "I know how devastating it is.

Scan to the second event. The resurrection times vary wildly." He explained as the computer loaded. "We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient is was two hours, one minute… seven seconds." He said sadly which made Olivia think this wasn't just some patient off of the street. He had cared for this person.

Olivia looked at the computer. The brain was still black but in the stem it looked like the synapses were firing again—this time the pulses almost as dark as the rest of the brain. The surges of electricity were slow and barely there.

"It restarts the brain?" Tony asked incredulously.

"No, just the brain stem." Jenner said looking back at Tony who just shot him a confused look. "Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.

"You tell me."

"It's nothing like before." Rick observed. "Most of that brain is dark." Olivia stared at the brain. The stem contained what humans needed to stay alive. And this one seemed to be barely functioning. What could cause something to be dead and then bring it back to life?

"Dark, lifeless, dead." Jenner explained. "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part—that doesn't come back. The _you_ part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

The subject was moving around on the screen now—a Rotter trying to get out. The end of a gun came into the screen and a bullet was unloaded into the subject's head—effectively killing it for good.

"God!" Carol gasped. "What was that?"

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea said sadly. "Didn't you?"

Jenner looked at her before turning away. "Vi, power down the main screen and the work stations." He had been keeping this place on minimum power, Tony had noticed. It was very dark in here.

He and Olivia exchanged worried glances. Jenner's little presentation left them with more questions than answers.

"So what is it?" Olivia asked. "Is it some sort of parasite? I once saw this Youtube video on Zombie snails and they would chow down on leaves and eat the parasites and then it would—" She trailed off as she saw the looks everyone was shooting her. "What? Tony made me watch it."

Tony groaned and shoved her off the table and she landed on the ground with an 'oomf'. "I did no such thing, brat!" He said as Carl and Sophia giggled.

Jenner just watched their antics. "It could be microbial." He said bringing them back to the dire situation. "Viral, _parasitic._" He gave Olivia a pointed look. "Fungal."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui asked harshly.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something." Andrea demanded. "_Somebody_. Somewhere."

Carol nodded. "There are others, right? Other facilities?" She did have a point. Olivia kept her eyes on the doctor as she jumped back onto the table. It had to be a fluke that this one was practically gone.

Jenner shifted his weight around, looking helpless. "There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know?" Rick asked, disbelief in his voice. "How can you not know?"

"Everything went down. Communications, directives—all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

Tony and Olivia looked at each other, alarmed. Why hadn't any of the other states done anything?

"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing?" Andrea asked. "That's what you're really saying, right?"

He didn't say anything and Olivia felt her heart sink. Tony and her had joked around quite a bit, but this shit was more serious than they realized. It was really the end of days. The world was gone and she didn't even get a chance to good-bye.

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again." Daryl said, his face in his hands.

Olivia leaned forward—intending to join Daryl but Dale spoke up. "Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask you one more question, but… that clock—" He pointed to the countdown clock Tony had noticed before. There was one hour left on it. "It's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators." Jenner said hesitantly and Olivia couldn't help but feel he was skipping some vital information. "They, uh, run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick asked, the doctor didn't answer. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." The computer's voice echoed eerily through the room.

"Well, I don't like the sound of that." Tony said as the group began exchanging worried looks. Jenner just left the room—not saying anything. "Liv. Go pack up our stuff. I don't think we should be here for zero."

She nodded and dashed out the room—others following her back to their rooms. She quickly began stuffing their belongings into their bags—they hadn't really unpacked so it didn't take long. She grabbed some blankets—they may come in handy in winter.

Olivia had noticed the air conditioning had stopped a while back and that just increased her anxieties. What ever this 'decontamination' was, it didn't sound good. And she sure as hell didn't want to be around when it happened.

She was looking around the room a while later when suddenly the power went out and she groaned. Time was running out. Olivia went into the hallway where everyone was asking Jenner frenzied questions. He was nursing a bottle of wine as he explained that the power was being prioritized, whatever that meant. They all followed him back into the main tech room, firing worried questions at him.

Tony and some of the other man came running back in and Rick quickly began questioning the Doctor. He just calmly repeated what he already said. Olivia shot Tony a worried look as he bit his lip. He took in the bags she had thrown over her shoulder and nodded approvingly.

Jenner stopped walking and everyone was silent. He held out his near empty bottle to Daryl who snatched it away from him with a glare. "It was the French." Jenner said. "They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Olivia grasped the railing in support as she felt her knees buckle. This shit was global. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, their people stayed until the very end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked softly.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice."

"And what exactly does that _fucking _mean for us, Jenner. What the fuck happens at zero?" Olivia snarled up at the man as she leaned on the railing. "And I better like you're goddamn answer."

Shane joined her in her anger and Rick quickly ordered everyone to get his or her things. As everyone darted off an alarm began to ring.

"What's that?" Shane asked, startled. Everyone began to rush off again when the doors suddenly smashed shut—locking them in.

"He just locked us in!" Glenn said, panicking.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl screamed, leaping up the stairs and heading to the Doctor. Tony, Shane, and T-Dog quickly darting after the angry man. "You locked us in here!" Olivia ran up the stairs after them as Daryl ripped the man away from his computer. Tony quickly separated the two and held Daryl by the arms.

Rick worked on getting Jenner to give us some answers or open the doors. In my opinion, Jenner had gone fucking crazy. He was screaming—refusing to open the doors. But Rick was finally able to get him to give us some answers. He revealed that this place would explode in twenty-eight minutes.

Olivia let out a startled gasp and she felt the blood run cold in her veins. Jenner was absolutely fucking insane. Just because he had some sort of death wish didn't mean he had to bring them down with him.

Daryl through the bottle against the door and him and Shane began smashing at the door with axes. There was no way they were getting through it but it was effective in increasing Olivia's own anger. She was furious. She wasn't going to let some worn down doctor with a death wish keep her from finding her brother.

Jenner tried justifying his actions—pleading at them to understand. It did nothing for Olivia. The more he talked, the more she wanted to punch him.

Shane and Daryl stopped hitting at the door. "We can't even make a dent." Shane said, gasping for air.

"And you won't." Jenner told him. "Those doors were made to withstand rocket launchers."

"Well your head ain't!" Daryl screamed running at the doctor with an axe and Tony quickly caught him with the help of T-Dog and Rick. They ripped the axe from his hands and threw it aside.

"Liv! Help us out!" Tony called, hoping that his sister would try and calm the red neck down. But she was too angry for that.

"You bastard!" She screamed running at the man—hoping to cave in his skull with her fist. She decked him hard in the jaw and watched with smug satisfaction as Jenner fell to the ground clutching his cheek. She lunged again, fully intending to show him exactly how angry she was.

"Son of a bitch!" She heard her brother swear behind her before yanking Olivia away—grabbing her by the waist. That didn't slow her down. She squirmed around violently and continued to scream.

"You fucking motherfucker. You don't fucking get to play God. I don't care who you think you are! I want to fucking live! And you ain't going to fucking decide that! Tony let me go!" Olivia kicked at her brother. "I am going to bash his fucking brains in!"

"Calm the fuck down!" Tony told her sternly as he yanked her arms down by her side. He should have known she'd react like this. He had been at the wrong end of her volatile temper before. He knew what it took to rile her up.

Rick was there too, leaning into Olivia with a serious look on his face. "I get you're angry, Olivia, but we need _him_ to get out. Take a walk and calm down."

He did have a point, much to her disappointment. She stared at him for a few moments before letting out a huff. Tony's arms slackened hesitantly and she threw them off, stomping down the stairs. "Where am I supposed to fucking walk too?" She went over-rubbing her sore fist—to stand by Daryl who was pacing angrily like a caged cougar.

Jenner began to justify his reasons again but Olivia ignored him. People were crying as she sat there fuming. It made her want to claw her ears off, hearing them so hopeless.

A couple of minutes later Shane was firing off shots around the room—leaving Olivia to wonder what the hell happened.

The mood then grew somber as the clock ticked down. Everyone was giving up hope. Tony climbed down the stairs towards Olivia and pulled her into his arms. She gripped his shirt in anger.

Jenner revealed that TS-19 was his wife and it all came into focus. He lost the love of this life and he was opting out. Olivia could understand that but she sure as hell didn't accept it.

There were five minutes left and she was about to give up too when Rick was finally able to convince the depressed doctor. The doors crashed open and suddenly everyone was running for their lives. Tony and Olivia were lucky she had grabbed their belongings but the others not so much.

They came up to the main doors and they were locked. Like the doors in the main room, there was no way to get out. Tony looked around for something but there was nothing. He swore loudly but then Rick was ordering everyone aside. He had a hand grenade and blew open the window.

"Let's go!" Tony yelled and everyone was on the move again—bolting out the window. Olivia gripped a large knife she had retrieved from her bag and hopped down after Daryl.

There were a few Walkers outside to greet them but they were quickly taken care of as they dashed towards the car. Olivia turned to glance back at the others—making sure they kept up when she tripped on the street curb. She fell harshly onto her side and felt her knife dig into her thigh with a sharp sting. Tony yanked her back to her feet and she cried out as her leg harshly protested but continued anyways. Ideally, the group should be miles away from this place when it goes sky high but that wasn't going to happen.

The others climbed into their cars but Tony just threw us down on the far side of the Caprice figuring it was safer than being inside the car. Seconds later a deafening boom came from behind them and even from a block away Olivia could feel the heat. Glass was raining down from the sky and the noise lasted a couple of minutes before it was deadly silent.

Olivia sat there for a couple of minutes before letting out a shaky laugh. _We made it out. We actually fucking survived_

* * *

**Hey y'all! If anyone is interested in Zombie snails... www .youtube. ****com/watch?v=Go_LIz7kTok**

_-**Delaney :)**_


	9. Highway to Hell

**Highway to Hell**

_"Hey mumma  
Look at me  
I'm on the way to the promised land  
I'm on the highway to hell"  
_

_-Highway to Hell, AC/DC_

* * *

It felt like hours that Olivia sat out there, hysterical laughter spilling out. Shattered glass was still raining down from the sky and the roar of the flames could be heard behind them. The heat was blistering even from a block away. She knew they had to get moving—Walkers would be coming from miles around after that deafening bang, but Olivia just kept laughing. She was so fucking glad to be alive.

Rick began screaming for everyone to start moving and Olivia finally turned to look at Tony. Her laughter instantly stopped. Tony's face was ghostly white and he was shaking—sweat pouring down from his brow as he clasped his hands around his head.

"Tony!" She jumped up and crouched over him, her leg instantly protested at the action. "Tony, are you hurt?" She quickly scanned over him for injuries and saw nothing.

Tony didn't reply—he just continued to shake and Olivia's heart sank. After he had come back from deployment he had suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It had been years since he had experienced any symptoms and he had been doing very well. But he also hadn't had any bombs go off near him, either.

In his mind, Tony wasn't in Atlanta. He was far away in a third world country. The screams of guns shots echoing around him, blood everywhere, _death_ everywhere. There was a boy screaming next to him—begging for Tony to save him. But he couldn't. There was nothing he could do.

Olivia swore and hesitantly grasped his arms. Tony had never been violent in his flashbacks before but she was still worried about his reaction. As she touched him his head snapped up and his haunted gaze met hers. "Oh, Tony." Olivia sighed, running her hands up and down his quivering arms. "Tony, you're in Georgia. You've been in the States for years now." She was trying to get him to come back to the present. Trying to snap him out of his nightmare. But all he saw was the dying boy pleading for help. Tony didn't even know his name.

Daryl, behind them in his trunk began laying on his horn—eager to get moving. Olivia just flipped him the bird. "Tony, c'mon bro, we need to get moving." She tried again in a calming voice. "I know that was some pretty scary shit but—" She didn't know what to say, she didn't know how this situation was any better than the one he had been in during his deployment. He never talked about it. "I'm here, Tony. I _need_ you. Remember, we have to go find Jared? Our whiny, pain in the ass little brother?"

Tony's shaking stopped but he was still white as a sheet and sweating profusely. Daryl came dashing out his truck swearing, "What the hell is the hold-up? We need to get outta here!" He took in Tony and Olivia and swore again. He had listened when Tony said he had been a soldier and was able to guess pretty quickly what was happening. "Just what we fuckin' need! Some tweaked out veteran. Son of a _bitch!"_

As he complained, Olivia saw red. Whatever Dixon thought he was doing wasn't helping Tony any. She jumped to her feet and stormed over to him—still ignoring the sharp pain in her leg. "Listen here, _hick." _She scoffed out the word, giving his shoulder an angry shove and he took an angry step towards her. They were glaring at each other face-to-face. "If you're fond of little Dixon down there I would learn to keep my mouth fuckin' shut." She gave him another shove in the shoulders harshly before storming back her brother, muttering. "Nobody insults my family but me."

"Bitch." Daryl snarled angrily as she tried to get Tony to calm down. _Daryl could call me all the names he liked_, she thought. She honestly didn't care what people had to say about her.._._ But as soon as they went after her family, they were in her bad books.

Tony still wasn't moving and Olivia could hear the low groans of Walkers approaching in the distance. Rick was yelling at them through his window, telling them to hurry. She quickly ran a hand through her hair—stressed out. "Dixon! Help me get him into the Caprice!" Tony wouldn't be happy, but Olivia was going to have to drive.

"What?" Daryl grunted as he stalked over towards the siblings. He was angry beyond belief at the brunette bitch but he wasn't too cruel to turn a blind eye.

"Are you fucking deaf?" She snapped angrily up at him. "I can't do it by myself. I need your help. _Please!_"

Daryl stared at her before letting out another sling of swears as he crouched down on Tony's other side and swung Tony's limp arm over his shoulder. Olivia did the same and soon they were hauling her brother over to the passenger side and stuffing him in. Olivia snapped his seat belt around him as Daryl threw their bags into the back seat.

"Thank you." She told Daryl honestly as she fished the keys out of Tony's pocket and turned to the redneck.

"Jesus Christ." He swore, catching a glimpse of her thigh. Her jeans had been torn through and blood was leaking from the wound. Her pant leg was soaked a dark crimson instead of their normal light blue. It looked pretty fucking bad. "You're bleeding."

Olivia took the moment to glance down at her injury. "Son of a bitch." She swore, as she looked at it closer. It stung an awful lot but it didn't look too deep. It was just bleeding a lot. It would probably need a couple of stitches but that was the worst of it. "Tony's gonna kill me if I get blood on his seat."

She tore off her flannel shirt and ripped the sleeve off. She tied it above her cut and pulled it tightly. She grunted at the pain but that was the best she could do at the moment. "Let's go." She told Daryl who was looking at her as if she was crazy. She was one tough bitch. "Walkers are getting closer."

He nodded and dashed back to his truck as Olivia limped over to the driver side and got in. She honked on the horn to let everyone know they were ready and they followed the conga line of cars away from the burning building. She didn't know who made it out alive—Rick and Daryl for sure—but she just prayed that the others did as well.

Tony was still pale next to her. He was slowly coming back but she needed something to jolt him out of his memories. He could still hear the boy pleading in his ears but he was slowly breaking out of his flashback.

Olivia's leg was stinging as she pressed on the gas pedal. Olivia inwardly cursed—angry with herself for being so clumsy to cut her leg.

She was thinking of something to jolt Tony into the present when she finally got an idea. She would sing—like he always did for Jared and her. She thought about turning on the stereo but figured Tony needed something a little more personal. He needed to hear _her_.

Olivia looked over at Tony as he gazed unfalteringly out the front window. "Ooh dat dress so scandalous, and you know another guy couldn't handle it." She began singing the first song that popped into her head. "See you shaking that thing like who's da ish, with a look in your eye so devilish."

She glanced at him again and he was still sweating—still almost catatonic, so she continued. "Uh, ya like to dance at all the hip hop spots. Then you cruise through the crews like connect the dots." Tony's breaths were evening out, and she began really getting into the song. Singing really did have a calming effect—no wonder Tony did it all the time. "Not just urban, she likes the pop, cause she was living la vida loca!

She had dumps like truck, truck, truck. Thighs like what? What? What?" Olivia was bobbing her head back and forth, momentarily forgetting where she was as she began to belt out the song. "Baby move your butt, butt, butt. All night long! Let me see that thong! Baby, that thong, th-thong, thong, thong!"

She looked over at Tony and there was more colour in his face. In fact, he was looking over at her with a tired but amused look—chuckling lightly. Her terrible singing had broke through his flashback like nails on a chalkboard. It was enough to erase the boy's cries and bring him back to the Caprice.

Olivia instantly stopped singing and looked at him earnestly. "Tony?" She said cautiously. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." He threw his head back against the headrest and gave a shuttering breath. His flashbacks—when he did have them—always left him exhausted. "And you guys say I'm a bad singer."

Olivia laughed whole-heartily. It didn't matter that he insulted her, she was just glad he was okay. "Well, you are way worse than me. Like absolutely terrible."

He closed his eyes as he focused on breathing in slowly—reminding himself of where he was and what had triggered his relapse. That's what the therapist had told him to do eight years ago. "For interests sake; why did you go for the _Thong Song_? With all of the music out there relating to explosions, you go for the _Thong Song_? Not even _TNT_ by AC/DC?"

"Oh. That would have been good. Shit."

Tony laughed and looked over at Olivia. "Holy fuck!" He suddenly shouted, making her swerve slightly as she yelped and looked over at him. "What the hell happened to you?"

She glanced down as he leaned over to inspect her injury. It looked a lot worse than it actually was. The bleeding was beginning to clot. "I'm okay!" She told him. "When I tripped before I landed on my knife."

"Shit. Pull over, we'll fix it. And then I'll drive."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Fuck that. I'm _fine_, Tony. Besides, we just left! We need to get the hell outta dodge before this place is swarming with Rotters. _You_ need to focus on calming down. You can drive when you're not sweating like a pig and breathing like you just ran a marathon."

Tony grumbled as he continued to look at her leg before deciding it could wait. He leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes—focusing on his breathing. "If there is so much as a scratch on my baby—"

"Yeah, yeah. You'll disown me. I remember." She laughed as she returned to watching the road. It was silent again as she followed the convoy away from the city. Olivia could still feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins and because of that she barely felt her leg. She knew she would sooner or later and she would have to try and clean it up. An infection wasn't exactly going to do them any favors.

They drove in silence for a while. Daryl had ditched his truck a while back—throwing his shit in the trunk of the Caprice and was travelling on his brother's bike. Olivia listened as Tony's breathing became even. She glanced over at him and he looked almost good as new. He had his eyes closed and had a small smile on his face. "What?" She asked him.

"Just remembering when you bagged your first buck." He said, chuckling as he looked over at her.

She laughed as she remembered too. "Oh, yeah! Dad was so proud! We ate venison for a month."

Their laughter faded and they were silent again—both lost in memories. Olivia thought back to her Dad. For all his flaws no one could say Joseph Bridges didn't love his kids. When her Mom died—he didn't know what to do. He was always on the road—he liked to travel and Mom didn't. Suddenly he was stuck with three kids he didn't know what to do with. So he did the best he could—which was raising them like he was a drill sergeant. They went around the country with him—had to because that's what his job called for. They'd spend a couple of years—sometimes only months—in a town before uprooting again. It was tiresome and restless—the only thing the kids had was each other.

He had made sure all of them could hunt, too. His daddy had taught him and he made sure they did too. Olivia was twelve when she got her first buck—he had been so proud. He was more proud of that than when Jared got all A's on his report card.

He was a tough man though—never one to talk feelings. But he loved his kids—just not in words. When the siblings went through all his things after he died, his most prized possessions were the trophies they had earned or the certificates they got.

"Liv, slow down." Tony said breaking her out of her reverie. She blinked and hit the breaks—everyone had stopped. There were hundreds of cars blocking the road. A literal dead end. Slowly, Daryl on his bike began to lead everyone through the maze of ruined cars. As Olivia followed the Cherokee, she tried not to think about what lay inside the graveyard of cars.

They drove quite a ways in until the RV came to a stop and everyone started getting out. "Maybe it's for the best." Tony told her, wrenching open his door and climbing out. "We can take a look at your leg."

Olivia glanced down at her leg as she killed the engine. Her adrenaline had worn off a while ago and it was stinging like crazy. It wasn't bleeding near as much as before—but it still oozed.

She hopped out of the car and onto the hood—Tony handed her their first aid bag and a water bottle to clean it. "Can you manage?" He asked, looking up to where the group was gathering. "I want to see what I can do to help. "

Olivia uncapped the bottle and poured it over her cut—which was showing the first signs of infection. "I got it."

He left and she searched through the bag for some antiseptic wipes. It was going to hurt like a motherfucker but she had to get it cleaned. She cried out as she wiped along the cut—digging out gravel that had gotten lodged in it. It began to bleed again but Olivia figured that was a good thing—bleed out the bacteria. She decided she would need stitches but there was no way in hell she was going to be able to do that to herself. She was a bit of a baby when it came to pain.

Olivia hopped off of the hood and hobbled her way over to the RV where everyone was beginning to scatter—looking for supplies. Tony dashed over and helped her get over to the RV and ushered her inside.

"It's going to need stitches." Olivia told him as he helped set her down at the table. "I cleaned it the best I could."

Tony nodded as he pulled the cloth away from the cut. "You mind getting a new pair of shorts?" He asked gesturing to her ruined jeans.

"Do your worst."

He took Olivia's knife, which she still had tied to her waist and cut just above the wound—repeating the step on the other leg until she had her very own pair of makeshift shorts. The weather was beginning to get hot anyways—shorts would be nice. He untied the shirtsleeve from around her thigh and inspected the cut.

"Yeah, you'll probably need a few stitches. You're lucky it wasn't too deep. There doesn't happen to be any sutures or anything in that bag, eh?"

"No, I checked. Maybe Carol has a needle and thread? Maybe some superglue?"

He nodded as he stood up, handing Olivia some gauze from the kit. "I'll go ask around. Keep pressure on that." He left just as Andrea came walking in.

Olivia sent her a small smile. "Thank goodness you're alive." She said with a relieved sigh.

Andrea looked at Olivia as she sat across from the booth—looking tired and worn out. "Yeah, well Dale didn't really give me a choice." She muttered darkly looking at her hands on the table.

Olivia frowned at the young woman. She was obviously still upset over her sister—and Olivia didn't blame her. "Well, for what it's worth. _I'm_ glad you made it out." She told her, hissing as she applied more pressure on her cut.

Andrea was silent as she looked up at Olivia. "What happened? Were you bit?"

"No, no! I was an idiot and tripped on my knife. Sliced my thigh." Olivia told her. "Tony's gone to look for something to stitch it up."

Andrea nodded and turned her attention to the disassembled gun on the table and fiddled around with it—trying to get it back together. She wasn't making any progress with it and Olivia didn't want to help her out. From what she gathered Andrea had a bit of a death wish at the moment and Olivia wasn't one for assisted suicide.

Olivia leaned back in the seat—closing her eyes in pain as she felt every heartbeat in her thigh. "God!" Andrea suddenly cried, falling to the ground. Olivia's eyes snapped opened as she looked down at the blonde woman. "Olivia! Get down! Walkers!" She yelled in a whisper.

Olivia's eyes widened as she fell to the floor next to Andrea—trying to remember if Tony closed the door on his way out. She reached for her knife—not wanting to use a gun to attract any more attention than she had to—but Tony had taken it with him.

Suddenly a rotted hand came into view followed by a tall, lanky Rotter. Andrea's hand was quickly on Olivia's, pulling her back into the bathroom. Olivia felt completely useless—she was weaponless. Andrea fiddled around with her gun in a panic. The two women held they breath as the Walker creaked around in the other room, its growling increasing in volume.

The two were about to make it through when suddenly Andrea dropped all her gun parts on the ground with a loud clang. The Walker's footsteps got louder and Andrea braced her legs against the door. Olivia hobbled to her feet, cursing the other woman and suddenly Andrea had a screwdriver in her hand. Olivia didn't have time to ask questions as the door burst open and the Rotter was trying to get in. They let out startled shrieks as its rotted face snapped its jaws at them.

Andrea leapt forward thrusting the screwdriver right into the Walker's eyes. She kept stabbing—blooding spurting everywhere until it finally stopped moving and collapsed to the ground. Andrea let a shaky whimper and also fell to the ground, looking at Olivia in exhaustion. Her face was covered in blood and Olivia could feel it sliding down her own cheeks. Olivia hopped over Andrea and quickly shut the RV door—making sure to be silent. She turned to Andrea before collapsing near the table—forgetting about her leg. "Good shot." Olivia said weakly and Andrea let out a hysterical giggle.

They sat there heaving air into their lungs, waiting for a sign that the Walkers were gone. There was no doubt in Olivia's mind that Tony was okay—he could take care of himself. It was the rest of them she was worried about. After a couple of minutes the door of the RV was opened again and Dale and Tony came rushing in.

"You girls alright?" Dale asked, kneeling beside Andrea. She just nodded, breathing deeply.

Tony helped Olivia to her feet and helped her limp out of the RV—getting her away from the Rotter. He walked Olivia over to where T-Dog was—whose arm was bleeding profusely. It was looking worse than hers. He was shaking and sweating, already. Probably on its way to being infected. "You too?" She asked him as Tony helped her onto the hood of a car. Tony kissed her hair—glad she unharmed. It had been another close call in which he hadn't been there. He felt guilty as he walked away to grab the supplies he had found.

"Yeah. Sliced it on a car door." T-Dog said, embarrassed. "Walker nearly got me. Luckily Daryl was there to help me out."

Olivia looked at the hunter who was close by—shoulders hunched as he shuffled through the trunk of a nearby car.

"Hey Daryl!" She yelled as he turned to look at her with a glare—still not forgiving her for snapping at him. "Can you look for superglue?"

"Whatever." He huffed, turning back to what he was doing.

Olivia laughed at his cold shoulder and turned back to T-Dog. "I'm going to break past those wall of his one day." She promised jokingly.

He let out a shaky laugh. Tony came back with his first aid kit and went to looking at T-Dog's arm. He needed more attention than Olivia at the moment.

Tony threw a damp cloth at Olivia and she worked at scrubbing her face clean. "I'm sure you will." T-Dog said. "What do you need superglue for?"

"Works better than thread and needle." Tony grunted. He was focused on cleaning the wound with antiseptic wipes as T-Dog hissed in pain. "Sorry."

"You do what you got to, man." He hissed in pain.

They were quiet for a while when Rick came running up. Lori, Carol, and Carl also came running up from wherever they had been. "Sophia?" Carol asked Rick hysterically and he shook his head.

Olivia felt her heart stop, as she looked around frantically—noticing that the little girl was missing.

"She's not back yet?" Rick asked, also looking around.

"No! She ran into the woods! You were with her!" Carol began to scream hysterically.

Rick held his hands up. "It's okay. I told her to run back to the highway while I distracted the Walkers but she probably got scared and stayed put. It's all right. She was safe when I left her." Carol nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Shane, Daryl, Glenn, want to come help?" The men nodded, grabbing weapons and heading off into the woods.

"I want to help, too." Olivia told Tony, sliding off the hood of the car.

He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back on the hood roughly. "On what leg? You're gonna be no use to them, Liv. Don't worry; there is four of them. They can find her." He knew when it came to children; Olivia would do anything to help. They had and always will be her weak spot.

Olivia huffed impatiently as the men disappeared to the woods. They better find that little girl. It was terrifying enough being in this Zombie-infested world, but lost and alone? No child deserved that. She sighed and kept her gaze on the tree line, praying that Sophia's golden hair would come bouncing through the trees.

She felt completely useless just sitting there. This was going to be one hellishly long day.


	10. All Screwed Up

**All Screwed Up**

_"And things go hard_  
_Like a dog gone mad_  
_She can pack some punch_  
_Then you're out to lunch, back at one"_

-_All Screwed up, AC/DC_

* * *

It was getting dark and there was still no sign of Sophia. The others had worked at clearing a route through the cars and scavenging what they could. When Tony had gotten Olivia stitched up with some fishing line he had found, she hobbled around—scavenging the best she could. She was hoping to find something to help T-Dog. He was starting to look feverish, despite his protests.

Carol hadn't done much—not that anyone could blame her. She just stared at the trees, sobbing. She was praying that the men would return with her daughter. If there was a God, surely he would have mercy. She was just a child!

Tony was helping Glenn and Dale with the radiator. They had managed to find a similar hose and duct tape and rigged up a half-decent fix. Everything was ready to go as soon as Rick and Daryl got back with Sophia. But Dale was keeping that a secret. He didn't want to leave without the little girl. Or, at least, answers.

Olivia was working with Carl—looking through the nearby cars. He was quiet—Shane had snapped at him earlier and his feelings were hurt. She was trying on getting him to laugh again—ease the tension but he was too worried to joke around.

"They're back!" She heard Glenn exclaim.

Carl and her went rushing over to see. Rick and Daryl were climbing back up towards the highway looking disheartened—no Sophia. Olivia walked up to them and placed a hand on Carol's shoulder. "You didn't find her?" She whimpered.

"Her trail went cold." Rick told Carol. "We'll pick it up again at first light."

Olivia frowned at that—they shouldn't be leaving a little girl alone in Walker-infested woods at night.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods!" Carol sobbed, shrugging off Olivia's hand.

Daryl threw his crossbow over his shoulder. "Out in the dark's no good." He told her in his husky voice. "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."

Olivia knew he had a point—searching at night would be pointless. Daryl was probably the only one with experience in tracking and searching at night would just leave to more problems. But she still felt they should be searching until Sophia was found. Carol seemed to agree with Olivia's thoughts as she instantly protested.

"I know this is hard." Rick said calmly, hands in front of his face. "But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there!"

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl added helpfully.

Rick looked around at everyone. "We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this."

That surprised Olivia. From what she gathered, Daryl was only in it for himself. She guessed that somewhere under that toughened exterior was a good guy.

"I-is that blood?" Carol shook as she caught sight of Daryl's pants. He just looked down at himself and back at Rick—not wanting to explain. He had gotten it on him from when he and Rick had ripped open a Geek. He wasn't sure how to explain that in a way that wouldn't upset the grief-stricken woman.

"We took down a Walker." Rick said.

"Walker? Oh my God." Carol started to panic and Lori placed her hands comfortingly on her shoulders.

"There were no signs it was anywhere near Sophia."

"And how can you know that?" Andrea asked.

Rick and Daryl exchanged looks before Daryl answered. "We cut the sumbitch open. Made sure."

Carol looked like she was going to faint as she sat down on the guardrail. She gathered her breath before snapping at Rick. "How could you just leave her her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?"

The guilt was evident on Rick's face as he defended himself. "Those two Walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance."

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane added.

"How is she supposed to find her way back on her own?" Carol asked, desperately. "She's just a child."

Olivia couldn't hear anymore. Her own anxieties were getting to her. She stalked off back to the cars in the ditch—hoping there was a map of the area that was overlooked the first time around. Maybe they could use it to organize the search.

She heard grass crunching behind her and looked up to Tony walking towards her. "Y'all alright?" He asked leaning against the car Olivia was rummaging in. She wasn't finding anything. He knew the missing girl was weighing hard on his sister. She had a hero's complex when it came to children.

"I guess. Just worried about Sophia."

"Me too. I'm going to help search in the morning."

"I am too." Olivia told him, jutting out her chin as he began to protest. "I'm better, Tony! I'm stitched up. I just have a little limp! And that's mostly _because_ of the stitches. I _can't_ sit around doing nothing another day."

Tony shook his head. She was being stubborn. He didn't want to risk her injury getting any worse. "No, I don't think so, Liv. You need to focus on getting better."

"I'm _fine!_" She protested and Tony rolled his eyes. "Tell you what, we'll keep on eye on it. If it looks infected in the morning, I won't go."

Tony looked at her as he debated. "Fine. But if is even the _slightest_ bit red, you're staying back." He had no intention of letting her come but it was easier to comply with her than arguing.

"Fine." She huffed out, pleased.

"Fine!" Olivia stuck her tongue out and him and he just rolled his eyes. He nodded his head back at the group who was beginning to disperse. "C'mon, let's get back up there."

She nodded and began limping up with him. He tried putting an arm around her to help her walk but she just smacked him away. Olivia didn't want to look like a weakling just because she got a little scrape.

Once they reached the top of the hill, Tony went back over to the RV, finishing up with the radiator. Olivia looked around. Rick was stalking off among the cars—probably feeling guilty. Daryl was by his bike, fiddling with his crossbow. She decided to hobble over to him. She should apologize for snapping at him back at the CDC.

"What happened out there?" She asked when she was near enough. Daryl had watched her approach with a glare and didn't say anything. He just went back to his business—ignoring her. He was still pissed off at her. Olivia rolled her eyes at his childishness. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you before. I was stressed and you were there."

He just looked up at her expectantly. It wasn't much of an apology. "Nobody insults Tony but me." She explained to him with a shrug. "I get a little defensive sometimes. He's the same way."

"Okay." He said gruffly, not elaborating. He was still a little hurt, but at least she had the galls to admit she was wrong—even if she was just shrugging it off.

Olivia went to a truck near him and leaned against it—taking the weight off of her injured leg. He took the moment to look over her. She had cleaned up since he last seen her. Her brown hair was sleek and clean, her face clear of grime. She looked gorgeous to him. Tired and anxious—but gorgeous. "So, what happened out there?" She tried again.

He sighed. "We tracked her down. She was headed here but somethin' veered her off course. We found a Walker, cut the sumbitch open. Nasty thing ate a woodchuck. Not much after that."

"Ew." She crinkled my nose at the thought of digging through a Walker's stomach. "Wish I was out there with them. Maybe there was something I could of done." I muttered.

"Like what? Bleed all over the place? You wouldn't of made a difference." He grunted, placing his bow on the ground and peering at her though the corner of his eye. "You alright?"

"I'm _fine_." Olivia snapped, sick of people asking her. "Tony stitched me up with fishing line. It looks pretty good." She shifted her leg so he could get a look at my wound. "All better now."

"That's what you needed the glue for?" He asked and she nodded. "Sorry I didn't find none."

"Doesn't matter." She waved him off. She was touched by his interest. Slowly, underneath all the grime and dirt Daryl was showing her that he was a man who cared. Despite his actions to prove otherwise. "Sophia is more important."

He nodded and shifted his attention back to his bike. "I'm going to come with y'all in the morning." She told him, not wanting the conversation to be over for some reason. He was rough around the edges but she truly enjoyed talking to him. It didn't help that she liked the 'bad boy' vibe he had going on. She had always been attracted to the lumberjack look in the past.

"Like hell ye are." He grunted, not even looking at her. "You'll only slow us down."

Olivia glared at him, getting angry again. She hated when people thought she was weak. "Tony said I could." She protested childishly.

"Then your brother is staying back too." Olivia huffed and crossed her arms—turning away from him. She knew she was being a brat, but she just wanted to help. She couldn't do that here. She needed to be out in the woods.

Daryl shifted around and took in the pouting woman. "Fuckin' woman." He muttered his breath, but found it endearing nonetheless. Olivia turned to glare at him when she heard him complain and he just glared back. "Listen here, _Oakley_, I know you can take care of yourself. Splendid job you're doing of that." He gestured to her leg sarcastically and she mouth popped open to protest but he continued. "If we're going to get to Sophia as fast as we can, we can't have injured people slowing us down. I saw that limp of yer's."

Olivia stared at him. He did have a point but that didn't mean she was happy. "We'll see how it is in the morning." She bargained, same as she had told Tony.

"You're staying here." Daryl said, not budging. Olivia grumbled, pushing her weight off of the truck and began heading over to the RV. As she passed Daryl, she grabbed the rag he had in his hands and threw it on the ground before storming away. "Real fuckin' mature!" He yelled as she walked angrily up to her brother, Dale, and Glenn.

"Dixon's a jerk." Olivia told them as they looked at her questioningly. "_Dick_-son." She added thoughtfully.

They laughed. "He's not letting you come, is he? Good man." Tony taunted and she punched his arm. He preferred her thinking Daryl a jerk, though. Easier to protect her that way.

"I'm _fine_." Olivia hissed at him.

He rolled his eyes. "I know you're acting like it's just a splinter but you sliced your leg pretty fuckin' bad. You need to let it heal."

"Your brother is right, Olivia. Trudging through the woods isn't going to do you any favors." Dale reasoned, wiping his dirty hands on a rag. "You may not like it, but you'll probably be of more use here. We'll find something for you to do."

"I'm going to bed." Olivia huffed out at them, not wanting to agree. She turned on her heel and began heading back to the Caprice. "And know I hate each and every one of you."

They laughed but she was fuming. How the hell was she supposed to help out here? The cars had all been moved today and she didn't see anything left that needed to be done. Olivia thought should be out there helping search for that poor little girl. She'd ask Rick in the morning to let her come. Maybe he'd have a different answer.

* * *

"How's your leg doing, Olivia? Do you really think you should be coming?" Rick asked the next morning as she pleaded her case to him. Tony had warned him that Olivia might try something like this.

She had thrown on a pair of jeans in an attempt to hide her injury but the truth was it was starting to get irritated. It was nowhere near as bad as T-Dog's but it was starting to get red around the makeshift stitches.

"I'm fine." She tried to reassure him as Tony walked up to us carrying a rifle.

"Don't listen to a word she says, Rick." He said nudging her in the shoulder. "She's _not_ fine and she _is_ staying here."

Rick looked at her brother and nodded, shrugging at Olivia. "I'm sorry, Olivia, but it's probably for the best if you stay here. We can't risk you getting worse. T-Dog has to stay too and isn't too pleased about it neither."

At least she had a companion in her misery. She shuffled over to the RV where T-Dog was leaning and he sent her a weary smile. The others were gathered in front of them making a plan. Rick was handing out weapons—but not guns much to Andrea's displeasure. Dale had taken her gun and she was none to happy. It was probably for the best, though. She probably didn't know how to use the thing.

Most of the group didn't know how to use guns, actually. It was good that Shane wasn't handing them out like candy—they would probably end up wasting all of the bullets on every twig that snapped. Besides, it would just attract unwanted attention.

The group moved and got ready to go. Olivia stayed with T-Dog and watched them resentfully. Even Carl was allowed to go. She stalked off over to Tony who was shouldering his rifle. He was one of the few allowed to carry a weapon—herself included. She took her knife from her waist and handed it to him—silently giving him her support.

Andrea and Dale were making a scene and everyone stopped to watch. It seems Dale had forced her in escaping the CDC and she wasn't too happy. Personally, Olivia thought she was being a whiny bitch. Sure, she guessed Andrea had some kind of death wish now since her sister died but that didn't mean she should go around firing a gun she didn't know how to use, endangering everyone else. She needed to face reality. She wasn't dead. Build a bridge and get over it.

Once Andrea said her piece she stormed off—the others following. Olivia limped over to sit on the hood of the car T-Dog was on and watched them with a frown on her freckled face.

"For what its worth, Dale, I think you did the right thing." She told the older man, glaring at Daryl's back as he disappeared into the woods. Dale just nodded sadly at the younger woman. He truly did care for Andrea. "C'mon Theodore, let me take a look at that."

The man groaned as he shuffled over to Olivia. Dale was returning to look at the RV—seeing what more could be done. "Tony told you my name?" He asked as they traded places—him jumping on the hood and holding out his arm.

"With a name like Theodore Douglas?" She laughed as she picked up the first aid kit Tony had brought her earlier. "Course he did."

Olivia looked at his cut. It was showing the first signs of infection. It was swollen, slightly red, and looked like it was causing him lots of pain. He was sweating and weak. It didn't look good for the poor man. "You scraped it on a car door?" She asked as he nodded. "You don't happen to remember the last time you got a tetanus shot, do you?"

"Tetanus? No." He shook his head as she pulled out antiseptic wipes from the kit. "But I did go to the doctor a couple of months ago and he gave me a couple of shots."

"Probably good for tetanus then." Olivia mumbled, trying to figure out the best way to approach cleaning the cut. "This is probably going to hurt but I need to do it. It's looking infected."

He hissed out as she began to roughly dab at his cut. It felt like she was jamming hot pinpricks of burning coals into his arm. It was pretty deep and it started bleeding again. "How's your leg doing?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Don't tell Tony this, but it's not looking so good. Don't think it's infected though." Olivia frowned as she dabbed at his arm. "Let's think of something to distract you. Which celebs do you think made it?"

"Chuck Norris." He said with a weak laugh. "He just had to."

"That's a given. Man's unstoppable." She scrubbed harder and he hissed out in pain. The coals felt more like actual flames now. "Betty White. She may be old but she's feisty."

"Harrison Ford."

"Samuel L. Jackson."

"Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Olivia finished cleaning the cut and looked closely at it—deciding what to do. It was bleeding again and would need something on it. "I don't think I want to give you stitches—mine aren't turning out so great. I'll wrap it up for now—stop the bleeding."

He nodded weakly—sweat pouring down his brow as she began to put gauze on the wound and brace it with an arm brace they had found. "Oh. I hope Bill Murray made it." She said with a sigh.

"All the celebrities probably made it." T-Dog grunted as Olivia tightened the brace. "They're probably having a good laugh from inside their hilltop mansions."

Olivia finished with the brace and put the supplies back into the bag. "Maybe that's where we should go next. Hollywood."

He laughed, jumping down from the hood and stretching his arm out. It was burning like crazy but now that Olivia had stopped cleaning it, it felt a little better. "We have a hard time even just getting enough gas to get to the next city let alone across the country."

"One can dream, Theodore, one can dream." She laughed with him before turning back to go to the Caprice. "I'm going to go change into shorts. It's going to be a scorcher."

"Thank you." He gestured to his arm before heading over to give Dale a hand. Olivia smiled and took the bag back to the Caprice. When she returned a couple of minutes later, Dale had climbed onto the top of the RV and was keeping watch. He revealed that the RV had been repaired yesterday. He was just giving everyone another reason to stick around until Sophia was found. Olivia thought he was one of the kindest people she had ever met.

T-Dog and her mulled around the rest of the day—casually looking through cars and playing cards. It was eating away at Olivia, she should be helping, but she was currently a member of the 'disabled club'. She felt like an idiot for being so clumsy.

The sun was high in the sky when they heard a gun shot go off in the distance. Only one shot. They all exchanged worried looks and nervously went back to what they doing. Praying that it was nothing.

Later, Dale had come down from the RV and was scavenging what he could from engines. Olivia was napping on the hood of car a little bit not far from them. T-Dog suddenly yet out a cry of pain and she shot up, looking over at the two men. Dale was holding his arm in concern while T-Dog braced himself against a car. He was getting worse. Sweat was poring from his brow and he looked even sicker—if possible.

"I got some painkillers." Olivia offered. "Those might help. Tony and I have a bunch of drugs too. But I don't know what the names mean."

T-Dog nodded weakly and she tossed him the bottle. She had taken a few herself, her own leg was beginning to throb dully. It didn't look near as bad as T-Dog's, more like irritation from the stitches that she kept pulling at every time she took a step. And the sweltering heat didn't help at all.

By the time the sun was starting to set, the others still weren't back and Olivia was starting to get worried. T-Dog and Dale had moved to the ground and were having a discussion, but she didn't care to join. She was hot, sweaty, and impatient. She wanted to get up and pace until the others got back. What was taking them so long? The sun was setting for god's sake! How hard was it to find one little girl? How far could she have gotten? Olivia thought about the gunshot she had heard earlier and her stomach clenched painfully.

Suddenly she heard a commotion from the woods and she jumped to her feet—her leg protesting. Glenn, Daryl, Carol, and Andrea all came trudging up the ditch—exhausted. Tony, Rick, Shane, Lori, and Carl not with them. And no Sophia.

"What happened?" Olivia shouted anxiously as she caught a glimpse of their grim faces, panicking when she didn't see her brother.

"Carl was shot!" Glenn cried as he climbed over the guardrail. Olivia felt her blood run cold. First Sophia and now Carl. This was some sort of bad dream. It had to be.

"Shot! What do you mean shot?" Dale asked, walking over.

"I don't know Dale. I wasn't there! All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

Dale's mouth flapped as he turned his gaze to Daryl. "And you let her?"

"Climb down out of my ass, old man!" Daryl snarled throwing his crossbow down and walking past Olivia towards his bike. He avoided her anxious gaze. Her eyes were asking questions he didn't know the answers to. "Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name. And Carl's."

Olivia quickly followed him. "Where's Tony?" She asked him frantically and he groaned.

"Relax woman. He was with Rick. Probably went to the farm with 'em." He told her gruffly as he placed his crossbow down and wiped at his neck with a handkerchief. Like everyone else, he was sweaty and covered in dirt.

Olivia let out a shaky breath, praying he was right. "Carl really was shot?"

"That's what that chick said."

"Oh god. I hope he's okay. Jesus." She bit her lip, trying to get control over herself. She could feel hysteric sobs working up her throat. "No Sophia, either?" Her voice was small and broken.

"No." Daryl turned to look at her at the sound of her broken voice and his gaze softened. She looked heartbroken. "How's that leg of yours?"

"It's fine." She mumbled, not looking at him. Olivia put her face in her hands, breathing slowly. "Everything's turning to shit."

"Relax, Oakley. Ain't no sense in getting worked up. They'll be fine." He walked over to her, a hand in the air as if he wanted to comfort her. "Let me see that leg of yer's. Don't want your brother comin' after me cuz you died of blood poisoning."

As he said that Olivia let out a watery laugh—thinking of T-dog. "T-Dog's got an infection." She told him as he poked at her stitches—making her flinch away from him. "He's not doing too well."

"Yours is a bit irritated." He observed, ignoring what she said. "But I don't think it's infected."

"I told you. I'm fine." She snapped. "I'm not the one anyone should be worrying about."

"If you say so." He snapped back and stalked off to the rest of the group who were arguing. If she was going to snap at him for trying to help than she could forget it. Olivia quickly hobbled after him—not wanting to be alone with her thoughts.

"She gave us directions to her farm." Glenn was saying. "It's not far from here."

"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol protested, shaking her head. She looked around at the others' doubtful looks. Carol wasn't about to give up on her little girl. "It could happen."

Andrea sent her a small smile. "If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful."

"At least some of us should stay." Olivia agreed as everyone turned their gaze to Daryl. He had become the unofficial leader now that Rick and Shane were gone.

"Okay." He nodded. "We got to plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."

"If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale said sending a nod to Carol who gave her appreciation. Olivia didn't think one day more was going to cut it. Personally, she didn't want to leave until they found the little girl. Leaving any time sooner wasn't fair to Sophia.

"I'm staying, too." Olivia told Daryl who just shook his head at the stubborn woman. "I can deal with my leg. Carl and T-Dog need attention more than me. I can be of more use here than I would there. Tony's the universal donor, not me." Oh_, that was why Tony went with Rick_, she realized. Tony could help out by donating his blood. And he would. He'd probably give up every last drop of his own blood before letting that boy die.

Daryl shrugged. "Whatever."

"I'm in, too." Andrea said raising her hand.

"Well, if you're all staying then I'm—" Glenn began.

"Not you, Glenn. You're going." Dale cut him off. "Take Carol's Cherokee."

Glenn shook his head. "Me? Why is it always me?"

"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on." Dale told him sternly, acting like the father figure. "But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option."

"His cut has gone from bad to worse." Olivia told Glenn, backing Dale up. "Lookin' like a bad blood infection."

"You need to get him to that farm and see if they have any antibiotics." Dale spoke again as Daryl walked over to his bike. "If not, T-Dog _will_ die. No joke."

"Tony and I grabbed some prescription stuff back in Pennsylvania." Olivia told the group. "Anybody speak science?" They shook their heads.

Daryl grabbed a cloth off of his bike and dragged out a bag full of pills. He came back over and chucked the cloth at Dale. "Keep your oily rags off of my brother's motorcycle. Why'd you wait till now to say anything?" He ripped open the bag and searched through the pills.

"I did say somethin'!" Olivia protested. "I told you ten minutes ago!"

He shot her a dirty look before turning back to the bag of drugs. "I got my brother's stash. Crystal, X. Don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers." He said, tossing Olivia a bottle of vicodin. "Oxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

Olivia scrunched her eyes, not wanting to think of his brother's (who she imagined was identical to Daryl) personal problems. Daryl went walking off, looking for some work to do and Dale took the pills over to T-Dog.

"We might have some of that, too." She realized, looking at the label of the Oxycycline, before heading over to the Caprice to search through Tony and her's stash of drugs. She kept an eye on Daryl. He was proving to be just full of surprises. He was really growing on her—not that she would ever admit. This world wasn't made for emotions such as affection anymore. And she wasn't going to turn into a weak, sopping mess just because the handsome, rugged hunter gave her the time of day. No chance in hell.

* * *

**Here's some sweet, sweet jams I rock out to when writing about the Walking Dead (Or jogging)... I call it... The APOCOLYST (haha, get it?)**

**1\. Back in Black - AC/DC**

**2\. Come With me Now - Kongos**

**3\. Skulls - Bastille**

**4\. Hair of the Dog - Nazareth**

**5\. Ready Aim Fire - Imagine Dragons**

**Enjoy!**

**-Delaney :)**


	11. Talk Dirty to Me

**Talk Dirty to Me**

_"You know I never  
I never seen you look so good  
You never act the way you should  
But I like it  
And I know you like it too  
The way that I want you  
I gotta have you  
Oh yes, I do"_

_-Talk Dirty to Me - Poison_

* * *

It was the middle of the night. The others had left hours ago for the Greene farm leaving Daryl, Andrea, Carol, Dale, and Olivia behind. She was in the Caprice while the others were getting some shut-eye in the RV. Maybe it was due to the fact that she had done nothing but lounge around all day, but Olivia couldn't sleep. She had spent hours just staring off into the trees hoping that maybe Sophia would appear if she didn't blink.

Olivia sighed, feeling her leg cramp up. The dull throb this afternoon had gone away thanks to Daryl's medicine, but it was still a little red around the stitches. She still had a limp but that was mostly due to the fact she was trying to avoid pulling the stitches.

After a couple of minutes of trying to stretch out her leg, Olivia gave up and reached over for the crowbar and flashlight she had placed in the passenger seat. She had a small arsenal beside her just in case something were to happen.

Olivia got out of the car—which she had driven up beside the RV. Dale was on top of the camper and stood up as he heard the door slam. "Olivia?" He called down as she backed up so that she could see him. "You alright?"

"M'fine." Olivia said, waving a dismissive hand. "Leg's cramping up. It alright if I take a little walk?"

"In the woods?" He asked worriedly. Olivia shouldn't be going anywhere alone—especially with her injury.

She shook her head. "Nah, was gonna walk up and down the road a bit. Maybe keep an eye out for Sophia."

He nodded, looking down the highway in the dark. "Stay in eyesight." He advised with a stern nod.

"Yes sir!" She said giving him a mock salute.

Olivia went off walking down the road, keeping an eye on the tree line and an ear out for Walkers. It felt nice to stretch her leg out—as much as she could. She couldn't stretch it in the way she really wanted to because of the stitches but this walking still took some of the stress off. Dale hadn't let her move around too much during the day and all she wanted to do was work out her muscles.

Olivia paced a couple of times and on her third trip back toward the RV she heard a commotion. As she walked up, Andrea and Daryl were walking towards her—towards the woods.

"Howdy there." Olivia greeted, cocking her head to the side as she noticed the small arsenal they were carrying.

They stopped when they got close to her. "What the hell are you doing out here alone?" Daryl grunted, adjusting his crossbow. He was getting sick and tired of this stubborn as hell woman always pestering him when she should be relaxing and healing.

"Oh, uh. You know." Se gestured lamely at the highway behind her, not wanting to explain. "Are you two going out looking for Sophia?"

"Yeah. We're hoping she'll see the light and come over." Andrea supplied.

Olivia looked carefully at the flashlight Daryl was holding. "Mind if I join you?"

Andrea nodded as Daryl shook his head fervidly. Olivia rolled her eyes at the hunter who seemed to be taking over the roll of over-protective brother. It was frustrating as _hell_. "Oh, _come on_! I'm doing fine! I need to stretch my leg out! I'm going crazy, here."

"We've already been through this." Daryl said, making a move to step around her, but Olivia just stepped to the side too, getting in his way. He glared at her fiercely—fed up.

"I won't slow you down none. It's dark out, you'll be going slow anyways." She pleaded, even pouting a little. "Besides. I'll just follow once you leave."

"Not if you're tied up." He threatened, giving her a stern look.

"Why? Are you offering? Oh, Daryl." She joked, covering her cheeks with her hands as if covering a blush. Olivia had grown up with two brothers; she was never one to snuff my nose at an opportunity for teasing. Especially one as good as this. "I guess I should tell you now; my safe word is pomegranate. I do like it rough."

She was expecting a grunt and a string of curses at her taunting but was pleasantly surprised when his cheeks lit up like a tomato. He scoffed and turned his head to the side—trying to hide his embarrassment. He wasn't used to girls flirting with him so blatantly and crudely—especially not pretty ones likes Olivia. He shook his head._ No, not flirting. Teasing_. He told himself. No way in hell would she _flirt_ with _him._

Olivia felt a mischievous smirk cracking her lips—loving the ammo that the hunter was unwillingly giving her. "Your funeral." He grunted finally, not meeting her eyes.

"Thanks." Olivia let him step gruffly around her and began following him—grinning at his back. "Wait. Does this mean no hanky panky?"

He didn't say anything—he didn't know how to reply. But he stiffened and hunched his shoulders indicating he heard her. Olivia shared a conspiratorial grin with Andrea as they quickly followed him into the woods. She wondered how red she could get Daryl's cheeks.

The trio was silent as they trudged through the forest. Despite her amusement with Daryl's discomfort, Olivia was serious. There was nothing funny about a missing girl. The night was silent, too. Occasionally they would hear the quiet scamper of a squirrel but nothing more.

Olivia's leg felt surprisingly good with the walking, but she was careful not to take too full of steps as to rip the stitches. Despite that, however, she managed to keep pace with Daryl and Andrea.

After a while of shining their flashlights into the night—peering into the darkness, Andrea sighed. "You really think we're going to find Sophia?" She asked. She was beginning to have her doubts.

Olivia didn't say anything, just looked at Andrea with disbelief. How could she even ask such a thing? Of course they were going to find her; Olivia was determined. It was only a matter of time. The odds were against the little girl, sure. But she was quick and small, from what Olivia saw. That was an advantage; Sophia could get into some good hiding spots.

Daryl seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he shined his light in Andrea's face and scoffed, shaking his head. "You got that look on your face, same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking."

"Yeah." Olivia piped in, finding comfort in Daryl's determination. "It's only been a day. She's probably holed up somewhere, terrified. We can't just give up."

Andrea paused, looking from Olivia to Daryl. "Well, do you?" She asked him, repeating her initial question. Neither of them had given Andrea a straight answer.

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet!" He said, scoffing again. "It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It happens all the time."

"She's only twelve!" Andrea argued.

Olivia rolled her eyes at the blonde. She had so easily given up on life and now she was so easily giving up on Sophia? It was fair to say Andrea wasn't Olivia's favorite person at the moment. "So? She's smart. She'll make it."

Daryl gave Olivia a sidelong glance, silently approving of her confidence. "Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost." He revealed. "Nine days in the woods, eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak."

Olivia cringed as he mentioned poison oak. She had gotten into a bush of that once on a hunting trip with her Dad when she was ten. She rubbed her arms, subconsciously, recalling how she had itched for days after. It was not a fun time.

"And they found you?" Andrea asked Daryl softly.

Daryl hesitated. "My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in Juvie. Didn't even know I was gone." He frowned slightly as he squinted into the dark woods. "I found my way back, though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched something awful."

Andrea and Olivia exchanged looks before snickering. Daryl shot them a look and they tried to contain themselves. "I'm sorry." Andrea said, giggling. "That is a terrible story." She broke into laughter again and even Daryl chuckled lightly.

"You know, my Pa probably would have _sent_ my brothers and me out into the woods alone. Gotten us lost on purpose and called it 'wilderness survival training' while he put in overtime with Mr. Miller." Olivia made a gesture of pouring a glass and they all snickered. She shrugged. "Free baby sitting."

Their laughter slowly died and Daryl sighed. "Only difference is that Sophia's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage."

They continued to walk, peering into the black. "My sympathies on the poison oak. Ugh." Olivia shivered, itching her arms. "Not a fun time. Especially in such an… _intimate_… place."

Daryl sent her a look—trying to figure out whether she was teasing him or not. Andrea made a sound of disgust. "Can we please change the subject? I'd rather not think about Dixon's itchy ass."

He smirked and turned back to looking through the woods. Olivia laughed to herself. The man was practically begging for her to tease him. "Speak for yourself, that's the only thing _I _want to think 'bout." She smirked, sending a wink to Andrea who chuckled.

"Jesus Christ." Daryl groaned, glaring fiercely at her. He was blushing so much his cheeks were practically bioluminescent. He didn't like her having this advantage over him but didn't know how to get her to stop.

"Sorry, sorry!" She laughed, not sorry at all. She raised her hands in the air in surrender. "I'll be good." Daryl doubted that.

"Knew it was a mistake letting you come along." He muttered, stalking off with hunched shoulders. "Let's go this way." He grunted, gesturing towards a path with a head nod.

They went down the path—silent again. Olivia began to think about Carl, the poor kid. She just hoped he was okay. Rick had just found him—he couldn't lose him now. Especially since he _was_ just a kid. He should be playing with trucks and video games. Not fighting for survival.

After a bit of hiking through the bush there was a rustle not far from them. Daryl was instantly crouched with his crossbow—creeping towards the sound. Olivia brought up her crowbar and Andrea stuck close as they crept through the dark.

They came up to a campsite. There was a tent pitched in the middle of the clearing—looking worse for wear. Camping gear was scattered all around. It had been scavenged.

"What the hell?" Daryl said as they closed in on the noise. There was a Walker tied up to a tree, groaning and grasping blindly at the air. His legs had been eaten at—muscles and tendons were handing off the stubs. The blood had long since stopped flowing. All that was left was drying, decaying skin. "Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit?" He read out in slight amazement.

"Ah, so he was a poet?" Olivia snickered, walking up at the tree to peer at the note held to the bark by a knife.

Daryl held his arm in front of her to prevent her from getting any closer to the snarling Rotter. He nodded up at the thing. "Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big, swinging piece of bait. And a mess."

"We should be glad he was an idiot." Olivia joked, nudging Daryl's arm in front of her face. He flinched and stepped away from her. "He would have deprived the world of such a beautiful poem." She reached out and ripped the note off of the tree. _Tony would love this_. "Just look at the rhyming scheme!"

"Huh." Daryl chuckled lowly. The Walker in the air snarled struggling around in the air—reaching for them. As he squirmed a piece of his rotted leg fell off of his stump. It hit the ground with a disgusting crack. Behind Daryl and Olivia, Andrea groaned. She was bent over and breathing heavily.

"Andrea?" Olivia called, walking up to the blonde and rubbing her back. "You okay?"

"Trying not to puke." She said weakly, before dry heaving.

Daryl looked back at them with a blank face before squinting up at the Walker. "Go ahead if you gotta."

Andrea stayed hunched over and Olivia continued to rub her back. She gave her a small smile. "No, I'm fine." Andrea took in a deep, calming breath. "Let's just talk about something else for a minute. How'd you learn to shoot?"

"Gotta eat." Daryl said simply.

"Dad taught us." Olivia shrugged.

"That's one thing these Walkers and us have in common." Daryl pondered. The Walker doubled his efforts—struggling against his leash. "I guess it's the closest he's been to food since he turned. Look at him. Hanging up there like a big piñata." He said with a chuckle.

Olivia kept her hand on Andrea's back but straightened up to look at the Walker. "Do you think they can starve?" She asked nobody in particular.

Daryl shrugged before edging closer to the thing. "The other Geeks came and ate all the flesh off his legs." He observed.

At his words Andrea groaned and finally vomited. Right on Olivia's shoes. She jumped back from Andrea instantly started rubbing her shoes against the grass. Blood she could handle, easy. But not puke. Andrea straightened up, breathing deeply. "Sorry. I thought we were changing the subject?"

Daryl smirked at her. "Call that payback for laughing about my itchy ass." He chuckled before looking at Olivia, raising an eyebrow. Maybe that was how he could get her back for the teasing. Make her spill her guts.

"Ugh." She grumbled, trying to get all of the puke off. "Don't look at me like that, Dixon. You're not going to get me that easy."

He just quirked his head and she winced. Growing up with her brothers told her she had just issued the hunter a challenge.

Daryl was silent, as he took in Olivia's challenging look and Andrea's hunched over form. He pondered why Andrea didn't seem to have the same power over him as Olivia did. She was pretty enough, he thought. But she didn't intrigue him like the fierce brunette did. Maybe it was because Olivia seemed to be stubbornly unaffected by the crumbling world around her. The way she defiantly stared the Geeks in their dead eyes—refusing to show weakness for even a second. She had even _joked _about the idiot in the tree, whereas Andrea had puked and moaned about it. Maybe that was it. Or maybe he just preferred brunettes.

"There wasn't a lot that came up." Andrea groaned, snapping him out of his thoughts, wiping her mouth. Olivia sent her a distrustful look, taking another step back, trying to protect her boots. If Andrea was going to spew again, Olivia didn't want to be anywhere near.

"Huh." Daryl said uninterestedly. He turned and began walking back in the direction they came from. "Let's head back."

Olivia began to follow him but Andrea hesitated. "Aren't you going too…?" She trailed off sending a look at the Walker. Daryl and Olivia followed her gaze before sending her twin looks of disbelief.

"No." Daryl shook his head. "He ain't hurting nobody. Ain't going to waste an arrow either. He made his choice. Opted out. Let him hang." He began shining his light around the campsite—looking for supplies.

"Besides." Olivia began as she walked over to the Walker and peered up at his rotted face. "Look how happy he is! He's got a nice breeze blowing him around. Sure, he doesn't have legs, but who needs those anyways?" She jokingly nudged the Geek's leg with her crowbar and it fell it the ground—right beside the other one. The thing snarled and snapped his jaw in her direction.

Andrea let out another groan and clutched her stomach, taking deep breaths.

Olivia sent Daryl a big grin and he shook his head, chuckling. He walked over and sneered up at the Walker. "Come on, man! Keep yourself together!"

They shared a laugh before going back to looking around the site. Andrea collected herself before walking over to the Walker and staring up at it. Olivia snatched up a bag and shuffled through it, looking for something of interest. Nothing.

Daryl stared at Andrea before letting out and annoyed grunt to himself and walked over to her. "You want to live now or not?" Andrea's head snapped to him and she sent him a hard look. Olivia quirked her own head behind them. She was interested in Andrea's answer, too. "It's just a question."

Andrea hesitated, sending a conflicted look to the Walker. "An answer for an arrow. Fair?" Daryl gave a slow nod and Olivia groaned. They didn't have the supplies to go around wasting arrows on every other Walker. "I don't know if I want to live, or if I have to, or if it's just a habit."

Daryl stared at her as he knocked an arrow and fired it into the Geek's brains. "Not much of an answer." Olivia disagreed with him. She thought it said a lot. To her, it said that Andrea was coming to terms with her situation. "Waste of an arrow."

Daryl turned on his heel and stalked off—heading back to camp. Andrea and Olivia exchanged looks before following him. There was an awkward silence as he stomped through the night and Andrea cleared her throat. "You're brother is a good guy."

Daryl's head snapped back to her before realizing she was talking to Olivia. He shook his head before turning back to watch where he was walking. Of course nobody would refer to Merle as a _good_ guy. "When did you talk to him?" Olivia asked trying to recall Tony talking to Andrea.

"Yesterday, when we were out looking." Andrea told her, looking away awkwardly. "He told me I should forgive Dale."

"Well you should." Olivia said sternly, before picking up on the subtext in Andrea's words. "You and the Tonester, huh?" Then she winced as she realized she had referred to her brother as 'the Tonester'. "…_Tonester_?" She mumbled. "What the fuck? I've never called him that in my life. I don't think I should ever again."

"Jesus Christ, Oakley, shut your trap. You keep gabbing on like that, you're gonna attract every Geek in a five mile radius." Daryl complained as he led them through the woods.

Andrea sent Olivia a smirk—glad the subject had changed from her and Tony. Olivia looked between Andrea and Daryl before deciding the hunter was more fun to tease. "You know, Daryl. You keep saying 'Jesus' around me. Bet I can make you scream it later."

"For fuck's sake." Daryl groaned and Olivia could bet he was red. Andrea let out a loud laugh. Daryl rounded his shoulders and increased his pace in punishment. This woman was going to be the end of him.

Olivia just smirked at his back and appreciated the way his muscles danced under his filthy skin. She was enjoying teasing him way more than she should. It was almost sinful how much fun it was.

The conversation died after that and it began to dawn on Olivia that they hadn't found anything. Not one sign of the little girl and she began to feel guilty. Here she was cracking jokes when she should have been putting more effort into searching. What kind of person _was _she? Olivia frowned to herself as they walked through the woods and soon they were back at the highway.

As they approached the camper, Dale came down from the roof and greeted them. Daryl gave a low shake of his head as he headed into the camper. Dale turned his attention to Andrea and Olivia took that as her cue to leave.

She hopped into the Caprice and ignored the people talking just outside it. The walk had felt delicious on her leg muscles and the effort was successful in making her tired. It wouldn't take her long to fall asleep—which was good. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts at the moment. Or ever, really.

* * *

**More sick jams from my _APOCOLYST:_**

**1\. Life is Beautiful - Sixx:A.M.**

**2\. (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult**

**3\. Renegade - Styx**

**4\. TNT - AC/DC**

**5\. Blame - Bastille**

**Rock On!**

**-Delaney :)**


	12. Stick Around

**Stick Around**

_"Then tonight you came home early  
Packed a bag or two  
It's been worrying me honey  
Just what you're gonna do  
Stick around, yeah, stick around"_

_\- Stick Around, AC/DC_

* * *

Once everyone woke up the next morning they decided to make their way to the Greene farm. They had made a sign on the windshield of a car and left some supplies in case Sophia returned. Olivia prayed she would. The absence of the little girl was taking its toll on the group and even more so on Carol. Carol didn't deserve that burden. An abusive husband and a missing child? It was too cruel. Especially since Carol was one of the nicest people Olivia had ever met.

It didn't take long until they made it to the mailbox Glenn had told them about. There was a sturdy fence surrounding the perimeter. As they pulled up to the shabby but quaint farmhouse the others of the group were there to greet them—grim looks on their tired faces. Olivia quickly hopped out of the Caprice—eager to see for herself that Tony was really here and that he was okay.

She searched the crowd before spotting him quickly approaching. He had dark circles around his eyes and looked like he had gone through hell. She was surprised he was still standing. Once he got to her, Tony gave her a small smile. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He cooed and for a moment Olivia thought he was talking to her. But then he shuffled over and began caressing the Caprice.

"Good to see you too, Tonester." Olivia stomped her foot grumpily and cursing herself at calling him 'Tonester' again.

He laughed as he stood up his reunion with his car and ruffled her hair playfully. He was relieved to see her again, and she did look better. Healthier. Better than he did. "It's always good seeing you too, kiddo." He paused for a second. "…_Tonester_?"

Olivia shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, man. I said it once and I can't seem to stop."

"…Tonester?" He repeated incredulously before shrugging. "Meh. It's got potential. How's your leg?"

"Way better. Took some of those drugs of Daryl's. That did the trick." Olivia reassured him. He slung an arm around her and began guiding towards the rest of the group. "How are you, Tony? You look like death's bitch. Oh! And Carl? Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay."

Tony looked forward, frowning. "He's doing better, thanks to Hershel." He didn't bother explaining ask who that was. Olivia would find out sooner or later. "It didn't look too good there for a while. But Shane and Otis were able to get some kind of medical machine from in town that saved the kid's life. Otis—" He paused and bowed his head sorrowfully. "He, uh, didn't make it."

"Oh god." Olivia murmured, rubbing his shoulder compassionately. "I'm so sorry."

He let out a shaky breath. "Yeah. I wish I could have gone with them. Might have been able to make a difference. But I've given so much blood to that kid. Think he might be some kind of vampire—nearly drained me and Rick dry."

As soon as Carl had been shot, Tony had rushed to the farm with Shane. He knew he was the Universal donor blood type and could help. He had taken turns with Rick donating blood. It had left him weak and shaky. But he thought it was worth it.

Olivia smiled as she joined the rest of the gang. Leave it to Tony to joke about his own pain—the bleeding-heart jackass. Dale was embracing Rick as the siblings approached. She assumed Rick had just explained the situation.

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked softly as a bunch the others began to embrace. Tony gave Olivia a little noogie and she grinned up at him.

"Hunting accident." Rick sighed, and then shook his head with a shaky laugh. "That's all—just a stupid accident." Olivia could see his despair. A world full of zombies and Carl is injured by a commonplace accident. It was almost ironic.

Dale gave Rick a pat on the back before going to greet the others. Tony and Olivia took that as their queue to do the same. Tony stalked over towards Daryl and Olivia turned to T-Dog.

"Teddy! My man!" She exclaimed happily, walking towards him with open arms. He laughed and gave her a big hug. They had become fast friends in their shared injuries. "You made it! You lucky son of a bitch!"

"Teddy? That's a new one. And yeah, I feel way better. The kind Doctor fixed me right up." He gestured to an older man with white hair. "He should probably take a look at yours."

Olivia gave an indecisive wave of her hand. "Sure, sure." She paused to look around at the others. There were two young girls she didn't recognize and a middle-aged woman. Olivia figured she should introduce herself. Lori and Rick were greeting everyone with relieved hugs and Glenn was making his rounds too. Shane was the only one not participating. He was standing off from everyone else, a sullen look on his face. "Everyone looks pretty grim. That because of Otis?"

T-Dog looked down sadly. "Yeah. He sacrificed himself so Shane could get back here. He was Patricia's wife. It's a damn shame." He gestured towards the middle-aged woman—a pretty blonde whose face was contorted with misery. It _was_ a damn shame. "We were just helping make a spot for a grave. We're gonna pile up a bunch of rocks, since we don't have a body…" He trailed off, shaking his head. Olivia gave his arm (his good one) a comforting squeeze before moving on to greet Lori and Rick.

She gave Lori a tight hug and rubbed her back. Lori looked like she had been to hell and back. "It's good to see you." Olivia held onto Lori, making eye contact with Rick. "I'm so sorry about Carl. I'm so glad he's going to be okay. That kids a fighter."

Lori squeezed her shoulder as she smiled at Olivia sadly. Rick patted her arm. "Thank you. Y'know, if it wasn't for your brother over there." Rick said, smiling at Tony who was talking to Andrea. "I don't think he would have made it. Y'all are good people."

Olivia gave them a small smile before heading over and introducing herself to the owner's of the farm. They were downright pleasant despite their loss. Olivia thought it was nice to know that there were still some kind people like them left in the world. They offered their land as a base camp until the group found Sophia, and Olivia was downright grateful.

After everyone had become reacquainted they all slowly went to a plot of land under a big, shady tree for Otis's funeral. Everyone took their time placing a rock on the grave and sending a prayer while Hershel—the Doctor—read from his bible. "Shane? Will you speak for Otis?" He asked after his speech.

"I'm not good at it." He protested, looking down at his shoes. "I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him." Patricia—Otis's widow—wept, pleading to Shane. Olivia's heart went out to her. "You shared his final moments. Please, I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

Shane looked carefully at her before giving a measured nod. "Okay." He hesitated, finding the right words. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad, ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy!' See that's what he said." He paused, wincing, as if remembering. He looked up at Patricia from underneath his eyelashes. "He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back…" He trailed off, looking down. He didn't finish. Instead, he limped forward and put his rock on the growing pile. "If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

Patricia broke out into sobs and Maggie—the young brunette—rubbed her shoulders comfortingly, biting her lip. Olivia kept her gaze on Shane. There was something… off about him. Something about his story. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was something about his persona. He seemed… _guilty_.

Olivia shook my head. She was being paranoid. Shane had just gone through a traumatic experience. _Of course_ he felt guilty—survivals guilt. The end of days was turning her into a jittery mess.

After the funeral everyone went about their business—looking for work to do. Tony and Olivia set up a tent in what they were affectionately calling 'Tent City'—where everyone else was set up. After that Olivia went in search of the Doctor to look at her leg. Tony wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Y'all sure are clumsy." Hershel told her as he set up his gear on a table next to the bed she was sitting on. Olivia had her leg propped up so he could get a good look at it. "First the boy, now you and that other young man."

"I guess we're lucky we found you then." She laughed as he sat down and scooted in to examine her thigh. "So, you're a doctor?"

"Veterinarian, actually." He told her with a light shrug. "But it is applicable to humans too." She watched in silence as he prodded at her stitches. "Looks like you popped one of the stitches. It's a bit irritated, too. Have you taken any of those antibiotics your friend had?"

Olivia nodded as he reached for some medical scissors from his kit. " I have some medicine, too. My brother and I were actually able to stock up on quite a bit of drugs at a pharmacy. You're welcome to it." She told him kindly—her payment for his help. "Tony and I can't read the labels anyways. It's all gibberish to us."

"Thank you." He gave me a small smile before returning to inspect Olivia's cut. "It actually looks like it's healing pretty good. I think I'll take these ones out. The fishing wire might just further irritate it. And whoever did this was sloppy. You'll have a nasty scar."

She snickered at that. She didn't care about the scar. She was just happy that Tony—once again—appeared to be an idiot. Olivia _lived_ for moments when that happened.

"My brother." Olivia offered, still snickering. Hershel began to snip at the fishing wire and she cringed as it pinched. "I want to thank you, Mr. Greene. It's awful nice of you letting us stay here until we find Sophia. And for saving Carl. The poor kid."

"Yeah, well. It's what any good Christian would do." He finished snipping at the stitches. He took an antiseptic wipe and rubbed the cut—cleaning the blood that began to leak. "Hmmm. This is looking good. I'll stitch it back up once I clean it."

He proceeded to stitch back up the cut and put a clean adhesive bandage over it. Olivia frowned down at the thing—it may keep her cut cleaner but it was going to make it harder to walk. It would be constantly pulling at her skin. _God dammit._

"We'll take a look at it again in two days, but the stiches should come out in probably about five days."

As Olivia stood up she could already feel the bandage itching her thigh. She gave out a sigh before turning to Hershel. "Thank you very much, Mr. Greene. I really appreciate it."

He gave her a small smile as he walked with her to the door. "My pleasure. But let's not do it again, shall we?"

Olivia smirked. "No promises, Doc."

He chuckled and she left the house and headed back to the tent. As Olivia rounded the corner she crashed headfirst into a solid form. It was like walking into a brick wall and she would have went flying backwards if they hadn't caught her by her elbows to steady her.

"Whoa! Sorry Olivia! Didn't see you there." Shane exclaimed as he released Olivia. He was carrying a big black bag.

She laughed and took a step back. "It's all good. Wasn't looking where I was going either." He smiled and made a move to walk around her but she continued. "Listen. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about what happened with Otis. He sounded like a great guy."

"Uh. Yeah." Shane hung his head and shifted his weight awkwardly. More guilt. "The man didn't deserve to go like that."

He didn't want to talk about it and Olivia smartly obliged. "How's your ankle? Did Hershel take a look at it?" He gave another noncommittal response and Olivia rolled her eyes. "I can take a look at it, if you want. I may not have a fancy degree like Mr. Greene, but I know how to handle a sprain."

Shane hesitated as he looked at Olivia before nodding. "Sure. If you don't mind. It's getting to be a real pain."

"Sure." She smiled kindly at him. She was just glad she could be of some help to _somebody._ "The doctor is in. Have a seat."

Shane sat at a bench not far from them and propped up his leg. He rolled his pant leg up and jerked off his boot. Olivia couldn't help but admire his toned calves. The man had nice legs.

She crouched down next to him and looked at it. It was purple and nearly swollen to twice its normal size. She let out a whistle and stood back up. "Now that's a sprain! I have some instant ice packs back in the Caprice. I'd tell you to keep off it for a while, but you're not going to listen. I'll wrap it up for you."

"Thanks." He mumbled, eyeing her as she began to turn away. He was debating about something in his head. "Wait!" Olivia stopped and turned to him expectantly. He looked away awkwardly before talking. "Uh, I was thinking of heading to Fort Benning sooner or later. Maybe you and Tony would like to come along? Look for your other brother there?"

He had wanted to slip away without anyone noticing but he figured it wasn't safe for him alone. Olivia and Tony wanted to find their brother—they were the perfect option for Shane.

Olivia's blood froze at his words. She hadn't thought about Jared in a while. He was the last thing on her mind with all the drama happening here. She felt terrible.

Shane mistook her panic as rejection and started backtracking. "You don't have to if you don't—"

"I'll—uh—I'll talk to Tony about it." She cut him off as she began to head towards the Caprice. "I just haven't thought about Jared in a while."

As Olivia hobbled over to the car she began to think about Jared—worrying. Fort Benning was the next logical place he would try. It would probably be enclosed and a good place for survivors. And they'd probably be needing Doctors. Jared would go there—Olivia reassured herself—it only made sense.

She grabbed the supplies from the trunk and her thoughts shifted to Shane's offer. Did he mean for just Tony, him, and her to go to Fort Benning? Or the whole group? He wouldn't just leave them… would he? He was too close to Rick and Lori. No. Maybe Olivia misunderstood. And did he mean to go soon? Even though they hadn't found Sophia yet? She couldn't do that. She may be desperate to find Jared, but he could take care of himself. Sophia couldn't.

She approached Shane and tried to conceal the conflict on her face. "You're in luck! Got some ice packs _and _a tensor bandage! You can walk around while keeping down the swelling."

He nodded. "Good. I can't slow down, none. I'd like to do my part in finding that little girl." As he said that Olivia felt relief wash over her. Of course he wasn't planning on leaving until after they found Sophia. She was an idiot for thinking otherwise.

With her confidence in him restored Olivia quickly wrapped the ice packs around his injured ankle and sent him away with a smile. He was planning on going up to the interstate to see if Sophia wandered back and she didn't want to keep him. He still had an awful limp, but at least he wasn't going around completely untreated.

Satisfied with her work Olivia made her way to the campfire in Tent City. She saw Rick and Daryl chatting from where she had just left and figured the hunter was going off to look for Sophia. Good for him.

When she got to the tents, Tony was there sipping some juice, the color back in his cheeks. Olivia saw Carol nearby hanging some laundry and figured she'd go help her out after she checked in with her brother.

"How's the leg?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, straw sticking out.

Olivia let herself down beside him and showed him the annoying new bandage. "All better. He said the last the person to stitch it was sloppy."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, excuses me, Princess. If that's the kind of gratitude I get for saving your life—"

"You didn't save me life." She cut him off bluntly.

"—Then I'm never going to help you out again." He finished as if Olivia hadn't said anything. "Daryl went out on his own looking for Sophia. Tomorrow when Rick and I are better we're gonna set up a proper search. They've got a map—should help us narrow things down."

Olivia nodded. Things were finally getting organized. "I'll do my part with laundry, I guess." She groaned, making a face.

"It's about time you got domesticated." He joked and she slugged him in the arm. Back home, Tony had always been the one to do the household chores. "How come Daryl came up to me complainin' 'bout your harassing him? Said I should keep you on a tighter leash."

Olivia snickered at the temperamental hunter. "I've been harassing him. _Sexually._ You should see how red his face gets."

"I did. On the way to Atlanta. Teased him about _you." _Tony let out a loud laugh. "See? I can make you red too! Maybe I should give him some tips."

"I'm not blushing." She grumbled, standing up to hide her hot cheeks.

"You know, I've always worried about keeping the guys away from you. Didn't know the real problem was keeping you away from the them." Tony continued to tease and she groaned.

"It's only for fun! Things get boring when you're not allowed to do anything." Olivia poked at her bandage resentfully. "I'm going to help Carol. See ya later, Tony."

"That's Tonester to you!" He yelled, waving her off with his middle finger. He watched her go with a thoughtful expression. He might joke about her and Daryl but he was worried. The two seemed to have some kind of friendship between them. Tony just prayed it stayed that way. He had enough shit to deal with.

* * *

**NEXT ON; THE APOCOLYST:**

**1\. The Last Fight - Velvet Revolver**

**2\. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones**

**3\. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons**

**4\. Knocking on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan**

**5\. Ramble On - Led Zeppelin**

**\- Delaney :)**


	13. Stormy May Day

**Stormy May Day**

_"The sky is darkening  
The dogs are barking  
A call for help  
You hope they get you through  
A clap of thunder  
A split asunder  
The people running  
And the moon doth rise"_

_-Stormy May Day - AC/DC_

* * *

Olivia's day doing 'nothing' actually turned out to be fairly exciting. First of all, Carol and her had done some laundry until their hands felt raw from scrubbing. Olivia used to hate doing laundry with a washing machine, let alone by hands. She found it to be absolute torture. But it seemed to keep Carol's mind off of things.

After that, there had been a slight issue with a Walker in the Well. Tony had come up barking like Lassie to tell Olivia as Carol and her pinned up clothes. It had been a big, disgusting thing. Its rotted skin was waterlogged and ballooned out from him, a sallow yellow color. The plan was to send Glenn down there to hook a rope around it and drag it up. They'd almost ended up dropping the poor kid down there. However, he was good at what he does and they were able to pull up the Rotter…. Just so it could split open at the top. It's guts sloughed off and splashed into the well.

Olivia later joined Carol, Andrea, Tony, and Shane as they went back to the highway to see if Sophia had stopped by. She hadn't, and Carol grew more worried. She didn't cry though. She had stopped crying a while ago. She had nothing left.

As soon as they got back she had shuffled off to the RV. Olivia followed her into the camper and saw she had begun cleaning fervently. She was a chronic cleaner. Olivia had silently grabbed a rag and started helping her. She could tell Carol wanted to keep her mind off of things and Olivia didn't really want to leave her alone at the moment.

"I want to have it clean for when Sophia returns." She told Olivia shakily as she began organizing pots and pans. Olivia didn't say anything, just gave her a small smile. They cleaned for nearly two hours and Olivia was exhausted. Who knew cleaning could take such effort? Carol had gone off into the other room to mend a shirt and Olivia just lounged at the table—making sure she hadn't popped any of her stitches.

It was then that Daryl came tromping into the camper. He was dirty and sweaty and carried an old beer bottle with a flower sticking out of it. He looked around at the camper before making eye contact with Olivia. He almost looked embarrassed and Olivia took the hint. He was here to see Carol.

"She's back there." Olivia told him softly as she shuffled past him, closing the door of the camper behind her. She leaned against the RV; her good leg propped up behind her. She was waiting for Daryl to come back out—she wanted to ask what he found. Other than the flower.

After a couple of minutes he came stomping out and nearly walked past Olivia. The beer bottle flower gone from his hands. "Where's _my _flower, Dixon?" She asked jokingly.

He jumped. He hadn't expected her to wait. He spun on his heel and sent Olivia a harsh glare. "You got nothing better to do, Oakley?" He sneered before turning back around. His intention was to go find Rick to report in.

Daryl's brush off didn't deter Olivia, however. In fact, she liked that he had called her Oakley—it let her know he wasn't really mad at her—just pretending to be.

Olivia shrugged as she smirked at his back. It was so easy to rile him up, and she had a hard time resisting the temptation. "Did you find anything today?"

He stopped and turned back to her—the glare gone from his face. His sudden change in mood surprised her and she tried to remember if she had ever seen him without a scowl before. She hadn't. "Yeah. Found this ol' farmhouse. There was a cupboard. Somebody no bigger than yay high…" He held his hand up by his waist. "…Was camped out there."

"That's great!" She gushed, a big, bright smile on her face. Daryl was slightly stunned. Olivia usually carried a bitchy expression on her face. But as she smiled at him, her whole face lit up. She looked years younger. "Geez, you're like superman. You've made more progress by yourself than with the whole camp out looking."

"That's what I've been trying to tell y'all this whole time. Y'all just slow me down." He said, not unkindly, a note of humor in his voice. Olivia could tell her compliment had pleased him—he stood up straighter and puffed his chest out slightly. "That's what, uh, the Cherokee rose was about." He scratched the back of his neck—chagrinned. "It was growing outside the house. The, uh, story is that when American soldiers were moving the Indians of the land, the Cherokee mothers were crying for the loss of their little ones. The Elders said a prayer and the next day there was roses growing right where their tears fell."

"Huh." Olivia said thoughtfully. "That's a nice story." The rough hunter was full of surprises. Giving a rose to Carol, that was really kind of him—not that Olivia would tell him that. He'd just get embarrassed and stomp away. It seemed like he didn't like mushy emotions like that. But her respect for him grew.

"You're not gonna tease me 'bout it?" He asked after the conversation lagged, a look of confused astonishment on his face.

She shook her head. "Nah. Why would I do that? Doesn't sound like me." She wasn't about to tease him about something he did out of the kindness of his heart. That was just cruel. Besides, Olivia didn't want to discourage him from future bleeding-heart moments.

At that moment she noticed her brother walking towards them—heading back to Tent City. Olivia remembered she had been meaning to talk to him about Shane.

Daryl was beginning to turn away and she knew she couldn't let him off that easy. "Hey, Tony!"

Tony raised an eyebrow as he approached them, looking between Daryl and her suspiciously. He didn't like how close they were one bit. "What, women?"

"Guess what, Tony! Daryl just promised to take me out for some practice with his crossbow." Olivia paused dramatically as both men shot her confused looks. She sent Daryl a mischievous smirk and he paled slightly. "He thinks his arrow can hit my target every time."

Tony let out a loud cackle of laughter. Despite his displeasure of Olivia and Daryl's blooming friendship; he had to appreciate how red Daryl's cheeks were getting. Daryl groaned—his face a delicious shade of scarlet (in Olivia's opinion). "Jesus Christ." He swore before looking at her pleadingly. "What is it going to take you to stop?" He hated the power she had over him—especially because he didn't know how to return the favor.

Olivia smirked lasciviously up at him and took a step closer. He gave her an uneasy look as she invaded his personal space. "I'll stop teasing…" She trailed off, dancing her fingers on his forearms. To her surprise Daryl held stock-still—his face turning a darker crimson. He looked at Olivia as if she was a wild animal about to skitter off if he gave even the slightest of movements. "When you take me up on my offer." She moved her hands up to his biceps and squeezed a little. _Good lord he was toned! _She wondered what it would feel like to have those arms wrapped around her. Olivia leaned forward slightly—intending to find out.

Tony was suddenly hauling her away from the hunter—throwing Olivia over his shoulder with ease. "Easy there, tiger." He told her, giving Daryl a distrustful glare. He didn't like the direction this teasing was taking. Tony knew Olivia had been flirting jokingly (at least he _hoped_ that was the case), but he didn't like how much she seemed to enjoy it. And Daryl wasn't making Tony feel any better. The hunter hadn't even _tried_ to deter his sister.

Olivia started to struggle, kicking at him. She thought he was supposed to be weak from loss of blood. How the heck was he holding her? "Put me down, Shrek!"

Tony walked with her up to Tent City and plopped her down gently into a lawn chair. Daryl shook his head as he watched the two—trying to clear his thoughts, and ignore the goose bumps Olivia's touch had created on his arms. He walked towards Greene house, intending to talk to Rick and clear his mind of Olivia.

Olivia watched Daryl walk away before turning back to Tony with a shit eating grin on her face. "Another point for Olivia." She smirked victoriously.

"You're out of control, Liv." Tony said grimly, shaking his head.

Olivia just shrugged and laughed. "Got to get your kicks while you can."

He allowed himself to let out a relieved laugh. She wasn't serious about her flirtations… he hoped. "Hey, so I talked to Rick. Carl woke up."

Olivia felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. Carl was going to be okay. That was one less thing to worry about. "That's great! How's he doing?"

"He's stable. In and out." Tony squinted at her, a sad smile on his chapped lips. "But he's getting better. That's the main thing."

"I'm glad." Olivia decided to pay the boy a visit tomorrow; check on how he's doing. That is, if they didn't let her go out looking for Sophia. Tony and Olivia sat in silence for a couple minutes before she remembered the real reason she had called him over. Olivia looked stealthily around the campsite to see if there was anyone around. There wasn't "So, um, _I_ talked to Shane today."

"That so?" He mumbled, urging her to continue.

"Yeah. He's thinking of heading up to Fort Benning after we find the little girl. Asked if we wanted to come along."

Tony shot her a confused look. "He's asking if _we_ want to come along? Just us? He planning on leaving the rest behind?" Tony hadn't liked the change he was seeing in Shane. There was something… _off_ about the man, and Tony wasn't sure if he trusted him.

Olivia shrugged. "No fuckin' clue."

"Well, shit." Tony stared at her before slumping back in his chair—conflict written all over his sun-kissed face. "I don't know what the hell to do."

She gave him a small smile before mimicking his movements. Olivia wanted to keep looking for Jared… but leaving this group of people to do so? It felt wrong somehow. "I know. We gave 'em names. We got attached."

"Our first mistake." He nodded, letting out a breath and weaving a hand through his short, brown hair. "_Shit! _I mean I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into these people. Can't just leave 'em now."

Olivia smiled softly as he said that. He had literally done those things. So had she. But, joking aside, she understood what he meant. They were surviving the apocalypse with these people. They were family. Tony and Olivia couldn't turn their backs on them now—despite how much she wanted—needed—to find Jared. "Well, when we find Sophia… that's probably the next place they'll go. Maybe it'll be a win-win situation."

"You don't think they'll stick it out here? It's a good set up." He paused and they both looked around to admire the farm. There was plenty of room and little worry of Walkers. It was a good place to be.

But Olivia thought of Hershel and his family. This was _their_ land. Not theirs. "I don't think Mr. Greene would appreciate that. I mean we came in stomping around—using his resources. He's been polite so far… but I don't think he means for it to be permanent."

Tony was quiet. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Olivia gave him a sideways look. Him not wanting to plan everything out was unlike him. He wasn't that great with impulsivity. In fact, it made him nervous. If there was something to plan about—he liked to know every detail before going in. "Tony Bridges doesn't want to have everything planned out? Guess it really is the end of the world."

"That is my plan. Wait it out." He protested, scowling at her. "Waiting it out is my plan."

"Plan for what?" A curious voice called from behind the siblings making them jump like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Glenn was walking up, looking at them curiously—drenched in sweat.

"Uh." Tony and Olivia exchanged looks. They probably shouldn't mention Shane's plans. "The plan for getting into Dixon's pants." Olivia yelled out impulsively.

"Exactly!" Tony shot her a sour look—he didn't like even joking about the idea. "My plan for Olivia getting into Dixon's pants is to, uh, wait it out." He finished pathetically.

Glenn just looked at them suspiciously. He clearly didn't buy it. "Right. Okay. Olivia, can I talk to you alone?"

"Me? Well, alright I guess." She stood up and went to go off with him. "Wait. Are you jealous? Because there is more than enough of this go around." She joked as they walked away from Tent City.

"What? No!" He protested, his ears going red. "I, uh, came here to talk about…" He trailed off, shifting his weight and looking highly uncomfortable. He liked Olivia but found it intimidating to talk to her. Especially since her and Tony seemed to like teasing people.

"Well come on, kid. Spit it out." She told him gruffly, enjoying his discomfort. "Ain't got all day."

"Well, uh, you're a therapist, right?"

"Wrong."

He looked at her surprised. "I thought Tony said you were a counselor or something?"

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "That is not the same thing as a therapist. Sure, I took a couple of psychology courses in my undergraduate degree in college, but that does not a therapist make. I majored in social work. My master's degree was in criminal justice. I can tell people what to do but I can't fix their problems." She stopped and looked at him accusingly. "Is that what you're talking to me for?"

"No! It's just…" He hesitated again and Olivia grew impatient. "Never mind."

Her gaze softened and she let out an impatient sigh. "No, ignore me. I'm cranky because I have this stupid bandage on my leg. What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could, erm, get your... insight on... Maggie?"

"The farmer's daughter? Alright. Shoot."

"Well, we went into town today—the pharmacy—for a supply run and well we ended up… _doing it._" He finished off in a whisper and looked anywhere but Olivia. His ears were flaming red.

Olivia chuckled at his embarrassment but felt strangely proud of the kid. End of the world and he managed to get laid. "Y'all did it in the pharmacy?" She asked, raising her voice and he waved his hands at her; panicking. He looked around to make sure no one had heard. "That's probably unhygienic… But right on, man. Up top!"

He hesitantly hit her hand before frowning again. "Yeah. But now she wants to pretend it didn't happen or something. Said it was a one-time-thing." Glenn had thought Maggie 5was hot before their trip but now… now he was practically smitten. The farmer's daughter sure was something else.

He looked at Olivia expectantly and she just gave him a confused look. "So what's your point?"

"Well… _why_? Why would she, uh, sleep with me and then pretend like it was nothing."

Oh dear. Was he really that naïve? Olivia worried. "Well, _jeez, _kid. Hate to break it to you but we're in the middle of the apocalypse. Maggie probably hasn't seen a guy her age in a while. She wanted to… _relieve_… some tension. But she doesn't want to get attached, y'know. Who knows how long your shelf life is gonna be? Anyways… I say be a typical man about it. Carve a knot in your bedpost and be done with it."

"Oh." Glenn looked disappointed. He had a feeling Olivia might say something like that but was hoping she would have surprised him.

"You like her, don't you?" Olivia said with sudden realization. "Well, shit, go after her then! It's the end of the world, kid! Live in the moment."

Glenn chuckled, his disappointment disappearing. "But you just said—"

"Forget what I said. I'm thirty—I'm old and senile." She joked and he laughed again. "Do whatever you think's right, Glenn."

He nodded and turned to head back to camp. "Thanks, Olivia… you won't tell anyone?"

"Mum's the word."

* * *

The next morning Olivia found herself helping with breakfast. T-Dog had found some instant oatmeal and they had managed to scratch up a pretty decent meal. If you like watery oatmeal, canned fruit, and cowboy coffee.

Carol had cooked it up and Olivia had handed it out—mostly due to the fact she was a terrible cook. After breakfast the plan was to spread out a search for Sophia—and Olivia had every intention of helping. She had been stretching out her leg all morning—trying to get the bandage to stretch with it so it wouldn't pull at her sensitive skin. Hence the handing out breakfast.

Everyone else had finished off their meals and Olivia was picking at the remnants of her own. She had sat on the ground in between Tony and Daryl who had both claimed a chair for themselves. Andrea was helping T-Dog with his arm, Lori and Carol pinning up drying laundry.

"Hey. Oakley." Daryl grunted from next to her. She turned to him and gave him a questioning look. "You've got somethin' in your hair." He gestured to his own head.

Confused, she raised a hesitant hand to her hair, feeling nothing. Daryl suppressed the grin that was threatening to break out on his face. This must be how Olivia felt before she taunted him. "… _Where_?" She asked cautiously. Her suspicion was music to Daryl's ears.

He smirked and leaned forward reaching his hand to her hair. She glared at him suspiciously as his hand ruffled in her soft hair. Finally he pulled back with a raised eyebrow and raised a hand to show her what he had. It was—

She yelped loudly, jumping back from Daryl, knocking into Tony, and spilling her plate all over the ground. "Fuck!"

Daryl was laughing—a full on belly laugh that Olivia couldn't appreciate at the moment. "What's a matter, Oakley? Just a spider!" He leaned forward, shoving the spider in her face. It felt nice to be on the other side of the teasing.

The others were laughing now too and Olivia squirmed in discomfort. "Keep that away from me, Daryl Dixon!" She flinched away from him—almost hiding behind Tony. For some reason spiders absolutely terrified her. Always have. Always will. Rotters she could handle… but squirming little insects. Oh god no.

Tony guffawed while Olivia flinched behind him. "Looks like that's a point for Daryl." He said as he gasped for air.

"You told him about spiders." She correctly deduced, a tone of utter betrayal in her voice—as if no one had ever committed such a crime. Daryl had thrown the spider away and Olivia could relax now but she kept a wary eye on him, just in case—to his amusement. "I thought you were my brother."

Tony ruffled her hair and she panicked; jumping away from him. Was he going to pull a spider out, too? Wait. Were there spiders _in_ her hair? She frantically ran her hands through her hair—feeling for little legs. Next to Olivia, Daryl began barking out a laugh again. "Bros before ho's, sis."

"You're a fucking asshole." She accused, punching Daryl harshly on the shoulder—he just laughed. She turned to Tony and glared. "And you have a stupid face."

Tony opened his mouth to protest but Rick came walking up—throwing a map down on the hood of Carol's Cherokee where Shane was seated inside. "Morning guys, let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Olivia put aside her quarrel and jumped up to her feet—rushing to gather around the hood of the car to discuss the plan of action. She made sure to stick close to Rick—which was furthest away from Daryl and Tony. Daryl sent her a wolfish grin as he pulled on a salmon flannel shirt—it was probably red once upon a time but had faded a pinkish shade. Olivia made a point of ignoring the hunter.

Rick had changed out of his usual cop uniform and his sheriff's hat was missing from the top of his head. That was a first. As the group all gathered around him he let out a determined sigh. "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

Tony nodded, gazing down at the map where Rick was pointing. Daryl was going to want to continue where he left off, no doubt. They'd have to split up—cover more ground.

"I'd like to help." A voice called from behind them. It was Jimmy—the young boy staying with the Greene's. He walked up beside Rick—next to Olivia and shrugged. "I know the area pretty well and stuff."

Rick gave him a suspicious look. "Hershel's okay with this?"

"Yeah, yeah." He said after a beat. "Uh, he said I should ask you." He was lying but Olivia didn't call him out on it. They could use the help.

"All right then. Thanks."

Olivia patted the kid on the back before turning back to look at the map. "Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane said, sitting in the Cherokee. "Anyone could have been hole up in that farmhouse."

"Anyone includes her, Shane." Tony said, giving him a stern look.

Daryl nodded his head. "Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high."

"It's a good lead." Andrea assured him.

Rick peered at Daryl and nodded softly to himself. "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again."

"No maybe 'bout it." Daryl said, leaning in to look at the map. "I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her."

Dale came up carrying the bag of weapons and set them down on the hood next to the map. "Good idea." T-Dog looked at Daryl with slight amusement. "Maybe you'll see your Chupacabra up there too."

"Chupacabra?" Olivia asked Daryl with a raised eyebrow which he returned with a scowl. She was looking for ammo to tease him with. In her mind, the spider incident had been a declaration of war.

Dale began to unzip the bag of weapons and shuffle through them. "What, you never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra." He pulled out a rifle and handed it over to Rick.

Jimmy laughed beside Rick and Olivia winced. If there is one thing she had learned, it was that you should never laugh at another's beliefs. Poor Jimmy.

"What are you braying at, Jackass?" Daryl snapped, giving Jimmy his fiercest glare.

Jimmy stopped laughing. "Uh, So you believe in a blood-sucking dog?"

"Do you believe in dead people walking around?" He retorted.

Jimmy didn't say anything. He worked his jaw before reaching out to grab a rifle. Rick instantly yanked it out of his hands, sending the kid a warning look. "Hey, hey! Ever fire one before?"

"Well, if I'm going out… I want one."

"Yeah." Daryl scoffed, grasping his crossbow and swinging it over his shoulder. "And people in hell want slurpees." He stormed off, sending Jimmy a pointed look.

Olivia watched him go with a roll of her eyes. He was _such_ a people person. At least he had a nice ass. Jimmy looked down, disappointed, and began to turn away—his ego hurt. "Why don't you come train tomorrow?" Shane offered, standing up from the Cherokee. "If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor."

"For now he can come with us." Andrea offered, taking pity on the kid.

Shane shook his head but waved Jimmy over. "He's yours to babysit then!"

Andrea found her gun from the pile and checked it out. Tony and Olivia, too, both found our weapons and Olivia felt safer having her Glock back on her. She grabbed a rifle and a couple packages of bullets. Tony sent her a look as he saw her packing up and she rolled my eyes at him. He was making a silent plea for her to stay back. Olivia looked pointedly at T-Dog. If he was going, so was she. Tony shrugged in defeat.

"Alright." Rick said, bringing the remaining group in. "Andrea, T-Dog I want you guys to go check out just south of this ridge. The house Daryl found was here so maybe y'all could go along this creek here and take a look?"

"Sounds good." Andrea gave an authoritative nod before looking at T-Dog. "You ready?"

"Was born ready."

They grabbed their things and headed off. Rick turned to Tony and Olivia. "Are you up for this Olivia?" She nodded sternly at him. "Alright. Y'all should go north of the ridge. There's a bunch of houses, maybe she's holed up in one of those." We nodded and Tony grabbed his backpack, placing it on his shoulders. "Olivia. If you start feeling bad, y'all come back."

Olivia sighed—sick of being babied—but nodded. "Fine."

"Alright, good."

* * *

Hours later, Tony and Olivia returned, sweaty, grimy, and splattered with Walker blood. Most of the houses they had searched had been empty save for one, which held a family of Walkers. They… put them out of their misery.

They hadn't found anything else. There were signs of Walkers, rabbits, and the occasional deer—but no Sophia. It was disheartening.

As the siblings walked up to Tent City the sun was beginning to set. They had been gone all day. Olivia just wanted to hit her pillow and sleep. T-Dog, Rick, and Shane were cleaning their guns around the low-burning fire. Andrea was perched on top of the RV—taking over for Dale. When Tony and Olivia got there Glenn came crashing out of the camper and gave Olivia a fierce glare. She just blinked at him—confused. What had she done _this _time?

"Did you find anything?" Rick came up to them, looking uneasy as he took in their rough appearance.

"Walkers. A couple of 'em." Olivia told him, flopping down into a chair—exhausted. She found it amazing how Walkers didn't bother her anymore. She figured she was habituating.

Tony took off his backpack and tossed it carelessly on the ground in front of him. "Managed to loot some supplies though. No sign of Sophia."

Rick sighed, shaking his head. "At least that narrows down the grid."

Tony shrugged before yanking the gun out of Olivia's hand and taking their weapons to Dale to watch over. The Doctor's orders, after all.

Olivia was about to close her eyes when suddenly Andrea was shouting. "Walker. Walker!"

She groaned before shooting up. Olivia wouldn't be able to run after the thing with her stupid leg but she could help out Andrea. It was a quick climb and she was up on top of the RV.

"Just the one?" Rick yelled, hurrying over.

From on top of the RV, Olivia moved her gaze to where Andrea was looking with binoculars. It was to the west—the setting sun was making it hard to see. But Olivia saw it. There—off in the distance—was figure approaching with a limping gait. A Walker.

"I bet I can nail it from here!" Andrea said suddenly—throwing the binoculars aside and reaching for her rifle.

"No, no! Andrea! Put the gun down." Rick yelled up as the others scurried around for weapons. "Olivia. Stop her!"

"Andrea. You shouldn't fire off a weapon here. Hershel wouldn't like it. Let them take care of it." Olivia urged her and she put it down in exasperation. The men on the ground went running off in the direction of it and they watched nervously. Dale was half way up the ladder and they couldn't exactly get down at the moment to run after the men.

Suddenly, next to Olivia, Andrea was on her stomach—lining up to fire.

"Andrea, don't." Dale tried warning her but she brushed him off.

Olivia snapped her head in the direction of the others and peered at them. They had gotten to the Walker but stopped. No one was moving. Something must be wrong.

"Andrea…. I don't think—" She tried to stop Andrea but it was too late—the blonde had already fired. The Walker went down and for a moment Andrea looked pleased with herself—until the men started screaming.

"What the fuck, Andrea?" Olivia yelled at the woman as she sat up—worried. Dale got down from the ladder and Olivia scurried down—limping towards the men. Andrea and Dale were quick behind her and they dashed towards the group.

Rick and Dale were hauling the figure up from the ground and Olivia caught a glimpse of who it was. Her stomach dropped—Daryl. "Oh my god!" Andrea was yelling beside her. "Is he dead?"

Feeling very annoyed with the woman, Olivia wanted to hit her. Would they really be rushing him towards the house if he was dead?

"Unconscious. You just grazed him." Rick told her, dragging the poor man.

"But what happened to him? Look at him, he's wearing ears!" Glenn said panicking—pointing at the macabre necklace of Walker ears on Daryl's chest.

As they got closer to the house, Olivia gazed worriedly at Daryl. He was covered in blood and filth. There were cuts and scrapes all over his body and blood was spilling from his head. He didn't look good to say the least. Man, fuck Andrea.

"Let's keep that to ourselves." Rick snapped the necklace from Daryl's neck and stuffed down his own shirt as they approached the house. Hershel and his family were waiting with concerned looks.

"Guys. Isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog suddenly called out, and everyone paused to look. In his hand was a doll. Sophia's specifically. Olivia's heart leapt with joy as they continued their journey to the house. Even looking like he had been dragged through hell, Daryl had been able to find something, She could kiss him… if he wasn't so bloody and grimy and unconscious.

They finally got to the house and Hershel looked downright pissed. "What the hell is going on?"

"He's been shot. We thought he was a Walker. Can you help?" Rick told the Doctor pleadingly. "_Please_."

Hershel hesitated but eventually nodded and they all hurried off into the house. Andrea went and sat on the porch steps—head in her hands. The guilt was eating away at her. _Good. _Olivia stomped passed her and sat roughly on the bench they had there. She wanted to be up there with Daryl but she figured she wouldn't be of any use. Hershel needed his space.

* * *

A half an hour later Dale came out of the house. Andrea and Olivia both looked at him hopefully. "How's he doing?" Olivia asked urgently. She had been sitting on the edge of her seat the whole time—worried sick.

"He'll be fine." Dale told her but spoke to Andrea. "How are you?"

"I shot Daryl." She said—ashamed.

Dale walked down the steps and sat down next to her. "Don't be to hard on yourself. We've all wanted to shoot Daryl." He comforted her and Olivia saw red. Was he _joking_? He shouldn't be comforting her! Not after this.

"That's absolute _bullshit_ Dale. Sorry, but it is." Olivia scoffed rising to her feet as they sent shocked expressions her way. "You _should_ be hard on yourself. You just might learn something. Gun safety for one."

Andrea had the decency to look ashamed. "I didn't—"

"Yes, you fuckin' did mean to do it. Rick told you to put down the gun but you went on and fired anyways. You shouldn't endanger the rest of use just cuz you have some fuckin' point to prove. Guess what, princess, it's the fuckin' apocalypse! We don't got time for your little problems. Think of _that_ next time!"

Dale stood, his hands in front of him in a reassuring manner—acting like Olivia was about to bite. This was the first time he had ever been genuinely afraid of the tiny brunette woman. "Look, Olivia, don't you think you're being a little harsh? She made a mistake. She gets that."

Olivia made a noise of disbelief as she gripped the door of the house and wrenched it open. "I don't think I'm being hard enough, Dale. And yeah. She made a mistake. A whopper of one if you ask me. She almost _killed_ Daryl because she's trying to prove a point." She looked around Dale to meet the watery gaze of Andrea. Was she was gonna cry? _Good._ "I get you know how to use a gun and you want to help out with that. But use your fuckin' head next time. For fuck's sake." Olivia grumbled, stomping into the house and kicking off her dirty boots. She had so much more she wanted to say to Andrea but Olivia was shaking with anger. She knew her speech would probably be all swears if she tried.

Olivia took a few calming breaths before heading up the stairs—hoping they'd let her in to see Daryl. She didn't care if he wanted visitors or not. She just needed to see he was okay.

Olivia told herself that she was so worried about him because they were friends. She saw him in a simply platonic light… but deep down even she knew she was lying.

For Andrea's sake, Olivia hoped Daryl was going to be ok. She didn't know what she would do to the blonde if he wasn't. And Olivia didn't want to find out.


	14. Gone Shootin'

**Gone Shootin'**

_"Feel the pressure rise  
Hear the whistle blow  
Bought a ticket of her own accord  
To I dunno  
Packed her heart in a travellin' bag  
And never said bye bye  
Something missing in the neighbourhood  
Of her cryin' eyes"_

_-Gone Shootin', AC/DC_

* * *

Olivia hesitated outside the door. She was still pissed beyond belief at Andrea and she didn't want to snap at anyone else. Especially not Daryl. She heard Hershel still talking to him in the room and she decided to wait for the Doctor to leave. It gave her an opportunity to calm down.

After a couple of minutes of deep breathing, rolling out the tension in her shoulders, and counting to ten Hershel came quietly out of the room. He saw Olivia standing there and sent her a knowing look. She scowled up at him and took another deep breath. It wasn't a good idea to snap at the man who was going to be taking her stitches out.

"Is he gonna be okay?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"He's going to be fine." Hershel reassured her. "Though I can't say the same about his attitude. Boy could use some lessons in manners. And personal hygiene, for that manner."

Olivia had to let out a laugh at that. She couldn't blame the man for speaking the truth. "He _is_ a little rough around the edges, isn't he?"

"That's an understatement." Hershel chuckled. "You yourself could use some lessons in personal hygiene. You must have met a Walker, by the looks of you. Or butchered a cow." He gave a disapproving nod at her grimy appearance. "Feel free to clean up in the bathroom down the hall."

Despite her growing irritation with the man she was surprised by his kindness. "Really? You'll let me clean up in here?"

"It's a one time deal. I worked too hard on those stiches of yours." He walked past her and began descending the creaky stairs. "The last thing you need is getting an infection. We only have so much supplies to go around, young lady."

Feeling rather like she was being berated by her father, Olivia looked down at her filthy bare feet, abashed. "Well, uh, _thank you_, Mr. Hershel." She told him sincerely. "What about Carl? How's he doing?"

"The boy is making a speedy recovery. He can probably get up and his feet tomorrow."

"That kid's made of some pretty tough stuff." Olivia agreed, feeling proud of the young boy. "Thank you again. For everything."

Hershel nodded and turned to leave. "Try not to wear him out, Ms. Bridges. Mr. Dixon there needs his rest."

Olivia felt her cheeks heat up at the man's insinuation, and turned hurriedly away from him. There was something about the old man that made her feel like she was in the principal's office. Maybe it was his age, or maybe that he was a doctor but she held a grudging respect for him. She would never turn her anger against him.

She opened the door and entered quietly—not wanting to wake Daryl if he was asleep. She shut the door behind her and turned her attention to the man on the bed.

On hearing the door creak open, Daryl had yanked his blanket up to his chest and rolled over to face his visitor with a groan of pain. "Oakley_?_" He wondered. "What? Did you come to yell at me?" He had heard her shooting her mouth off at Andrea down on the porch—it was right below his window—and was more than a little nervous that she had come to do same to him. He was already in enough pain—he didn't need a headache too.

She shot him a confused look as she stood awkwardly next to his bed. "Yell at you? Why would I do that?"

Daryl just looked at her before grunting and laying back on the bed. "Why the hell are you here then?"

Olivia grounded her teeth before sitting heavily on his bed. He jumped slightly and glared at her. She had slightly jostled him and he had tensed his abdomen—pulling at his stitches. She rolled her eyes at his reaction—uncomfortable with talking about actual feelings and the fact that she even needed a reason to visit him. "I don't know. We're acquaintances. You were shot. Acquaintances are entitled to checking up on one another."

Daryl stared at her as she fiddled awkwardly on the bed. She was covered in dirt and sweat. Her clothes were stained with dark globs of red, which Daryl assumed was Walker blood. He wondered why she didn't seem to a have a quick retort to his question and then he had a moment of sudden clarity. "Oh. You're _worried_ about me. Careful there, Oakley, people might think you _care_."

Olivia's cheeks lit up. He had hit the nail on the head—but she wasn't going to admit it. And she had so many conflicting emotions at the moment—anger, embarrassment, worry—she couldn't come up with a witty retort. She just turned away from him angrily and scowled at the ground.

"S_hit_, Oakley. Are you _blushing_?" Daryl laughed, catching Olivia's rosy cheeks. "Huh. So this is how it feels? No wonder you're always spoutin' off innuendos. This is downright entertainin'."

"Fuck off, Dixon." She said angrily, blushing harder. She made a move to get up and storm off but Daryl quickly grabbed her wrist.

"C'mon, Oakley, don't get your panties in a twist. You've teased me way worse. 'Sides, I've been shot. You've got to put up with me." He gave her a lazy smirk and released her wrist once he saw she wasn't going anywhere. He didn't know if it was the painkillers kicking in or the fact that he finally got one on Olivia but he was in a surprisingly good mood for being shot. And she wasn't terrible company, neither.

"You're going to play the injured card?" Olivia scoffed, resorting to sarcasm to cover her embarrassment.

Daryl didn't say anything at first—just continued to smirk at her as she fiddled around next to him. He could sense that something had changed between them. Maybe it was the painkillers making him loopy or his brush with death making him brazen, but Olivia didn't seem to have the same effect over him. He was more confident and beginning to understand her more—especially after the spider incident. Olivia liked to talk a big game but deep down she was a regular woman. Just as scared and confused as the rest of them.

It also helped that during his struggle to make it back to camp he had Merle chirping in his ear. Telling Daryl to not be such a pussy and let a girl walk all over him—although his brother's voice hadn't said it in as nice as terms as that. Nonetheless the tiny brunette with the big blue eyes didn't intimidate him anymore—and to him that was a huge advantage.

"Don't need to play any card. I _am_ injured." He said after a while and she scowled at him, which did nothing but amuse him. She was like a kitten throwing a hissy fit. Absolutely adorable but not intimidating at all.

Olivia's glare slipped into a smirk as a thought occurred to her. "Guess that means it's my turn to be overprotective." She lowered her voice in an attempt to impersonate Daryl. "You can't come out with us. You gotta stay behind and focus on gettin' better, _Legolas_, you'll only slow us down."

"Funny." Daryl grunted, closing his eyes—he could feel waves of exhaustion kicking in. "But I didn't hurt my leg, like you. I can walk just fine. All's I need is a good nights rest. I'll be up lookin' for the little girl again tomorrow."

"That is _so_ not going happen." Olivia laughed, cooing in a taunting manner. "You'll just pop your stitches and wind up right back here."

"I just found her damn doll." Daryl snapped. "Can't give up now."

"Don't worry. We'll go out lookin' tomorrow." Olivia reassured him softly—her embarrassment gone as she looked at the injured man. His eyes were closed and he looked relaxed—despite the bandage taped to his head. "What exactly happened out there, Daryl?"

"That fuckin' horse bucked me off. Fell down a hill and my arrow went clean through me. Had to pull the arrow out to kill a Geek." He added the last part in a vain attempt at impressing her. He wasn't disappointed.

"Huh. Wow. And then you got shot." He smirked sleepily at Olivia, as she looked closer at the bandage on his head. He jumped slightly when he felt her fingers on his forehead—pushing up a bit of white gauze that was falling over his brow but quickly relaxed. Her hands were cool and felt nice on his throbbing head. "So you've had just a _great_ day then."

"Yeah." He yawned and groaned as his bruised ribs expanded. "Not plannin' on doin' it again."

Olivia opened her mouth to reply but there was a knock at the door and Carol came in balancing a tray on her forearms. Daryl instantly jerked up the blanket further up on his chest and Olivia snapped her hand back away from stroking his forehead.

Carol watched silently as the two leapt apart; flushing like two teenagers caught kissing—it was quite funny to see. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything." Carol said coyly, setting down the tray on the bedside table. Olivia jumped to her feet and quickly stepped away from Daryl's bed—feeling as if her closeness to him had suddenly become too _intimate_. "How are you feeling?" Carol asked him.

He peered at her before grumpily rolling away—really feeling his exhaustion now and missing the feeling of Olivia's hands. "'Bout as good as I look."

Carol gave him a small smile before straightening out and walking towards the door. "Dinner's ready. If you want to join us." She told Olivia. "I brought you some dinner too, Daryl. You must be starving."

Olivia nodded. "I'm going to quickly wash up." She murmured to Carol before dashing down the hall.

Carol watched as Olivia scuttled out with a small smile. It was strange seeing the usually confident woman shy and embarrassed. Carol wondered exactly what she had interrupted. She shifted her gaze to Daryl and felt a wave of appreciation sweep over her as she took in his bandaged head. He had risked his life trying to find Sophia. Not even her own father would have done that.

Carol leaned over Daryl and kissed the side of his wounded head. He flinched slightly and shot her a confused glare. "Watch out, I got stitches." He told her gruffly.

She chuckled lightly at his boyish reaction but couldn't help but feel a bit hurt. She bet he wouldn't have reacted that way if it was Olivia who had kissed him. And she couldn't blame him. Olivia seemed like a strong and confident woman—not to mention she was pretty. Olivia was petite with bright blue eyes and a mess of curly brown hair. It was no surprise Daryl would be attracted to her.

And she knew how to take care of herself—Carol thought back to when Olivia saved her life. Maybe if Carol was even just a teensier bit more like her Sophia would be here, safe rather than lost in the woods—probably terrified. Carol resolved in that moment to try and be more like Olivia. She would harden her heart and stop relying on others—not just for herself but for little Sophia as well. With Walkers wandering around—there was no room left for soft people. And Ed was gone—there was nothing holding her back.

Carol returned her gaze once more to Daryl he just further fueled her desire to toughen up. He had done so much her and her family—she would repay him by not being such a weakling. "You need to know something." She began and he turned his head to look up at her curiously. "You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy did in his whole life."

Daryl turned back around—settling into the blankets. He hid his face from her—slightly embarrassed. She made him sound like he was some kind of hero. He wasn't no hero—exactly the opposite, in fact. He had just been doing the right thing, searching for the girl. "I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done."

"I know." Carl humored him. "You're every bit as good as them. Every bit." Daryl didn't say anything but Carol could tell her words sunk in and she was glad. She wanted him to know exactly how important she felt he was. "Olivia seems to think so too." She couldn't resist adding, wanting to discover exactly what Olivia and Daryl's relationship was.

"Huh. What? _Olivia_?" Carol watched as his cheeks flushed as he stumbled through his words. "You're crazy, woman. Nah, she was just here to give me a hard time 'bout bein' injured. S'all it was."

"That's why she was stroking your face?"

Daryl hunched his shoulders and brought his blanket higher over him self-consciously. "Jesus Christ. She was just fixing my bandage!"

"Seems like it's wrapped pretty good." Carol said smugly, enjoying teasing the man. "I'll stop bothering you, though. Get some rest, Daryl."

She left the room and Daryl turned his head to make sure she was really gone. Only when he was alone did he allow himself a small smile. The thought of Olivia caring for him set off a fire in his chest and he couldn't say he hated the feeling. A part of him hoped Carol was right about her.

* * *

The next morning found everyone up with the sun. The delicious meal the ladies had prepared the night before and Daryl finding Sophia's doll had proved to lift everyone's spirits. Glenn was making his rounds—handing out peaches from a basket. Daryl had been helped down from the Greene house and back to his tent. He was lounging around watching everyone skitter about their day. Even Carl was out and about—doing trivial tasks with Lori to get his strength up. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

Tony and Olivia had woken up before the sun and after a quick breakfast had headed out to look for Sophia where Daryl had indicated on the map. They didn't want to waste one second of daylight.

It took nearly three hours but they were able to get to the ridge and Olivia was amazed by the hill Daryl had had to climb up. It was more of a cliff than a hill, in her opinion.

"So, he found the doll here on the creek bed." Tony said rolling out the map Rick had given them earlier. "Rick is thinking she dropped it north of here and the current brought it here. Shane's going to the housing development there, so…"

"So we'll go more west then, follow the stream. We'll check out these houses here." Olivia agreed pointing to an area of the map, which followed the stream. Tony nodded, rolling the map back up and stuffing it in his backpack. They continued to hike up through the valley looking for signs of life. Rick had suggested they ask Hershel to borrow some horses but they chose not to. Neither Olivia nor Tony knew how to ride and after what happened to Daryl they were all the more reluctant.

"Rick mention what the rest of the group is doin' today?" Tony asked after they had long gotten out of the valley and into the secluded woods that followed the creek. "Since they're not out here lookin' with us?"

"Gun trainin'. And 'bout time if you ask me. Don't want another Andrea repeat." Olivia retorted moodily.

Tony rolled his eyes at his temperamental sister. "That's not fair, Liv. It was a good shot for a beginner. "

"I never said it was a _bad_ shot. I _said _she needs to learn gun safety." Olivia grumbled, crouching down to get a closer look at some broken branches—trying to figure out if it was caused by a little girl. "She was trying to prove a point even though the situation was under control. She's like a child."

Tony chuckled. "You're just angry cuz she shot your boyfriend."

"Fuck off, Tony." Olivia turned and punched Tony on the arm while he shook with laughter. "Now c'mon. There's the first house up there. Let's go."

Tony watched as Olivia stormed off to the farmhouse—chuckling to himself. It was so easy to rile her up. His laughter died as he really thought about her and Daryl—she was really starting to like the hunter. Tony did not like it.

Olivia stopped when she came up to the run down house. It must have been bright blue once, but now it was a dull grey—paint cracking all over it. It smelled musty even standing outside of it—Olivia figured it must have been abandoned even before the apocalypse hit.

Tony quickly joined her at the front door and they raised their bats. Olivia kicked at the door loudly a couple of times and waited for the familiar sound of groaning—but there was nothing. Tony made a gesture with his hand—indicating he would go in first but Olivia just stared at him, blank-faced.

"It means I'm going in first." Tony whispered, opening the door with a loud _creak_. He crept in and quickly scanned the small foyer for anything. It was destroyed—the rug had been upturned and it looked like someone had kicked a hole in the wall.

"Next time just say that then. I don't know what _this _means." Olivia said sarcastically—mimicking Tony's movements. She stepped into the house after him, the bat cradled on her shoulder. "What the _fuck_ happened here?"

Tony shrugged, gesturing at her to shut up. He was trying to be cautious in case there were some Walkers in the house but Olivia seemed to be doing anything to spoil his attempts. "I don't know." He whispered. "Let's look around. _Quietly_."

Olivia rolled her eyes and stomped after him up the stairs—searching the house. Like the foyer, the rest of the house was absolutely destroyed—almost like it had been looted. But there was nothing to indicate a little girl had been there. When they got to the kitchen there was the all too familiar smell of rotting flesh. They both raised their weapons and shuffled into the kitchen. There were three bodies on the floor—two with bullets in temples and another's head bashed in. Nothing else seemed to be moving so the siblings lowered their weapons.

"Think the family who lived here did this?" Olivia asked crouching over one of the bodies. It looked fresh—for a Walker. Its skin was hanging off its bones, a sallow yellow, but it didn't look like it had been sitting there for very long. There weren't even flies buzzing around yet.

"I don't know. The house looks like it's been abandoned for a while." Tony murmured, looking at the other bodies. "Maybe some other survivors went through here?"

Olivia stopped when she reached the final body. It wasn't a Walker. It was the body of a person. His skin—while thick with dirt—wasn't the rotting grey off the Walkers. He looked completely fine—other than the bullet in back of his head. "Tony. This guy wasn't a Walker." She whispered, beginning to feel nauseous.

"What?" Tony jumped over the Walker he had been inspecting and crouched down beside Olivia. "Was he bit or something?"

They paused as they quickly searched the dead man for some kind of injury that would give justification for his death but found nothing. "H-h-he was murdered?" Olivia whispered, horrified.

"Yeah, I—uh, yeah?" Tony said, staring confusingly at the corpse. "I don't know how else to explain it."

"Suicide?" She asked, almost hopeful.

"Couldn't have." Tony shook his head—no longer feeling safe. He grabbed Olivia by the arm and jerked her to her feet, wanting to leave. "There's no burn mark around the wound and it's on the back of his head. Whoever did this was at least five feet away. Maybe from the door there…" He trailed off, feeling sick to his stomach. "Execution style."

"So, this guy must have bashed in this Geek here." Olivia gestured to the Walker closest to the dead man as she tried to figure out what happened. Desperately hoping it wasn't murder. "And someone else shot the other Rotter and… _him._"

"And then looted the place." Tony agreed grimly. "I think we should leave. _Now._"

Olivia hurriedly agreed and the two crept out of the house—throwing cautious looks around—looking for any evidence of other people. "Are we going back? What about Sophia."

Tony looked at her, conflicted. He didn't feel safe anymore. Whoever killed the man wasn't someone he wanted to meet. He had a feeling there were others whose motives weren't as pure as their own group. But he felt he owed it to Sophia to keep looking. He couldn't give up on her now. "We continue. _Carefully_. But you listen to everything I say."

Olivia nodded her head—she was frightened. And Tony had more experience with this kind of stuff than she did. "Alright. Fine. Let's go." She swallowed nervously and followed her brother—trying to pay extra attention to the land around her. She was looking for any signs that a group of living people went by.

They cautiously looked through the other houses and they were all the same—looted ruthlessly—they could see the signs more clearly now. Luckily there was no other bodies, though. Just destroyed houses. Olivia noticed they had left nothing behind. Anything that could have been remotely useful was gone, which unnerved Olivia. These people knew what they were doing.

About an hour later they came to the last house on the range road. The agreement was to go back after this—they didn't feel they should risk going further—especially because it would take a while to get back to the farm and they didn't want to risk travelling at night. Not with potential murderers out there—not to mention Walkers.

The house turned out to be exactly like the others—completely destroyed. When they reached the last room—Olivia stayed back to search through the cupboards—looking for supplies for Sophia or any supplies. Tony went out the back door to keep watch.

After a couple of minutes of fruitless searching Olivia sighed and went to follow her brother but stopped when she heard voices. Her blood ran cold in her veins as she crept over to the broken window—trying to hear what was going on.

"—So what are you doing this far in the woods, then? And you're alone?" A deep voice that Olivia didn't recognize was saying.

"It's just my sister and me." She heard Tony reply stiffly. "We're lookin' for a ol' farmhouse to hole up in. You know, make a home and all that. Maybe bake some cookies."

Olivia's heart dropped at his mention of cookies. Neither of them could bake to save their lives and would never be caught dead making _cookies_. The phrase was actually somewhat of a code word for them—usually meant for when Tony had a girl over and didn't want Olivia around. But Olivia knew what he meant now. Something was wrong and he wanted her to leave. Well, fuck that.

"Oh, a _girl, _eh? Joey and the boys back home will like that." Another male voice laughed. Olivia wanted to puke—murderers and rapists. "Dave, go check the house out for her."

Her pulse quickened. This was her chance. Olivia tightened the grip on her bat and crept down behind the door—praying she would be able to surprise the man.

She heard the heavy fall of boots on rotted wood and then the door was opening. He was a tall man—thick, greasy, brown hair and grimy clothes. He walked in casually—as if not expecting Olivia to be a threat but had his hand on his gun in case of any surprises.

He stopped in the doorway and sniffed loudly, gazing around at the kitchen and Olivia took her chance. She crept forward and swung her bat harshly at his head. He didn't even see it coming. The bat met his head with a sickening _crack _and he slumped forward—instantly unconscious. She dragged him into the panty—which wasn't an easy task, he was a big lug—and put a chair in front of it. She didn't want to risk him waking back up and coming after her.

Once that was done—Olivia caught her breath as she crept back to the window—deciding what to do. She felt disgusted with how easy it had been to deal with the man and how unbothered she was at the violence.

Olivia peered out the window and quickly caught sight of her brother. He was on his knees facing the house—his nose looked like it was bleeding. The other man Olivia had heard had his back to her—he was holding a gun to Tony's head. She had her glock, she could shoot the man from where she was but she didn't know if there were more of him.

Conflicted, she decided to take her chances on sneaking up on the man. She was willing to bet she was the faster draw—especially because she had the advantage of surprise.

Olivia took a deep breath and pulled out her glock, gripping it in one hand while she held the bat in the other. It wasn't as stable as she would have liked but she would rather use her bat than her gun.

Olivia silently slipped through the door—trying to get out of it before it creaked. She took in slow, even breaths, trying to calm the panic she felt rising in her chest. Despite the Walkers—she had never been this scared in her life. If she messed up—her and (more importantly) Tony would be dead. She couldn't fail.

Tony had seen her creeping up—she knew it—but he didn't even glance in her direction. She knew he was probably terrified but he was always better at keeping a cool head than she was. He knew better than to give her away.

Olivia tiptoed up behind the man—who was just as filthy and burly as the other man but was fat. He wasn't starving despite the hard times. She had reached him and was just about to swing when a twig cracked under her weight shift and the man spun around. He let out a surprised yelp and Olivia brought bat down hard into his skull. He crumpled just as easily as the other man.

Tony leapt to his feet and quickly grabbed the guns away from the man—just in case he woke up soon. The two men had surprised Tony—hitting him in the face and forcing him to his knees. He had no doubt in his mind that they had been going to kill him. His only hope was that Olivia would have taken his hint and got out of there. He should have known she was too stubborn to run.

"Olivia, what the hell. I told you to get the _fuck _out of here!" Tony raged.

Olivia fell back on her butt—shaking. She finally allowed herself to be scared and was beginning to hyperventilate. That had been _too_ close. "I-if I did, you'd be dead."

"Son of a _bitch!_" Tony yelled again. He wiped the blood that was leaking out of his nose and onto his lip. He was pretty sure his nose was broken but he didn't care at the moment. "That was too risky, Olivia. What if he had turned around just a bit sooner?"

"Well, let's be glad he didn't!" Olivia snapped, standing up again on shaking legs. "Let's just get out of her okay? Before more of 'em come."

"There were only the two." Tony told her grabbing her arm and dragging her into the woods opposite from the direction they had come from. "Bad guys always reveal their plans."

Olivia let herself be dragged—she knew Tony was freaking out and she didn't want to do anything to make him angrier. "Where are you goin'? We came from that way…"

"I don't want to risk 'em waking up and following us back to the farm. We'll head back to the interstate and go back to camp from there."

Olivia nodded. "Okay. But we won't get back—"

"Until tomorrow, yes." Tony interrupted gruffly, picking up his pace. He wanted to be as far away from the two men before they woke up. "We'll hole up in a car somewhere. It's for the best."

Olivia swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. She wasn't too thrilled about spending a night away from their group—especially in a car. It felt it was too open, too exposed. But she would rather that than risk the safety of the group.

The two siblings hurried along. It was nearly an hour before they reached the highway and the sun was beginning to set. They darted a good ways up the highway—towards the Greene farm. They knew it was harder to track them on concrete—and even harder between abandoned cars. When it began to get dark they picked a sturdy looking car tand jammed themselves into the trunk and closed it above them—leaving a crack open. They agreed to take turns keeping watch but Olivia could feel that it was going to be a long, sleepless night.

"Were those the men who killed the guy in that first house?" Olivia finally asked after hours of silence.

"I think so." Tony said sourly. Olivia had just reset his nose and he wasn't feeling to peppy at the moment. "Didn't exactly have time to ask. They said they had a group."

"Yeah. Hopefully they won't come lookin' for us."

"Hopefully." He grumbled. "But they'll probably try. They were cocky sons of bitches. They'll be pissed."

"Fuck." Olivia swore as she closed her eyes and leaned back in the trunk—trying to get comfortable. She felt disgusted and scared. Those men had _murdered_ another living person. And for what? Supplies? Weapons? It all seemed so ruthless and pointless to Olivia. There were Walkers to worry about, they shouldn't have to worry about other living people, too. And what were the others going to think when they didn't return?


	15. What Is and What Should Never Be

**What Is and What Should Never Be**

_"Catch the wind, see us spin, sail away, leave today, way up high in the sky.  
But the wind won't blow, you really shouldn't go, it only goes to show  
That you will be mine, by takin' our time._

_And if you say to me tomorrow, oh what fun it all would be.  
Then what's to stop us, pretty baby. But What Is And What Should Never Be."_

_-What Is and What Should Never Be, Led Zeppelin_

* * *

As soon as the sun began to rise, Tony and Olivia crept out of the trunk to be on their way. They didn't want to risk running into the two men again, and they just wanted to sleep peacefully. Olivia, for one, was planning on soaking herself with water from the pump as soon as she got back. She felt disgusting.

During the night nobody had passed by them except for a couple of Walkers, so they were quite sure the men hadn't followed them. They felt it was safe to start making it back towards camp—but they remained cautious.

They had eaten what granola bars they had left and drained their water. The initial plan hadn't been to stay out all night and now they were out of supplies.

Tony figured it was about a two-hour walk back to the farm and he wanted to get going—to put as much distance between him and that other group. Olivia didn't know this, but the man who had held a gun to his head—coincidently named Tony—had told him explicitly what he planned on doing to Olivia if they found her. Tony wasn't a very violent man but he had wanted to kill that man. Needless to say, he was glad they had gotten out of there but he was nervous they would come looking for them. Tony was constantly looking over his shoulder—scared he was going to see them.

Neither of them had gotten much sleep. Tony could tell Olivia was pretty shaken up—more so than she let on. He knew she was having a hard time understanding that living people were turning on each other. Tony had too, at first, but was quickly coming to realize that it was a dog-eat-dog world out there, and only the toughest and cruelest were the ones to survive. He had fought in a war before—he knew what people were capable of in desperate situations. He had nightmares of it constantly.

"We're almost there!" Olivia cheered—interrupting him from his horrific memories after a couple of hours of walking—they were approaching the outer fence of the Greene farm. They hadn't talked much; too paranoid that if they did, the two men would come and attack them. Tony and Olivia were tired, cranky, and dirty. They just wanted to get back and sleep.

"God, _finally_. I just want to punch my pillow with my face." Tony groaned, rubbing at a crick in his neck from sleeping in the trunk of a car.

"I think my blisters have blisters." Olivia complained back, walking through the gate Tony had opened. "I never want to walk ever again."

"I'm pretty sure somethin' bit me. My arm is itchin' like crazy."

"My back is so sore from that trunk. I feel like an old lady."

"My nose is broken and my shirt looks like I washed it in blood."

Olivia raised her hand in surrender. "You win." They both laughed as they walked up the gravel road towards camp. Olivia glanced around the camp—wondering where most of the group was. She wondered if they were out looking for her and Tony.

Dale—as always—was on top of the RV and she could see Lori sitting at the picnic table with Carl. The sight of the mother and son warmed her heart.

"I'm going to find Rick. Tell him what happened." Tony whispered, as they got closer. "No sense worrying the group." He looked meaningfully at Lori and Olivia nodded, taking the hint.

The siblings split up and Olivia continued her journey to Tent City—eager to get some rest. When Olivia got close enough Lori got to her feet and rushed to the younger woman, embracing her tightly—tears in her eyes. "Oh thank God you're alright! We were so scared. Are you okay?" Lori began searching the younger woman for injuries worriedly. What had kept her out all night?

"I'm fine." Olivia told her, leaving her embrace to hug Dale who had come down to greet her. "Tony's got a broken nose, but we're fine."

"What happened? We were expecting you back at night fall…" Dale asked, his eyes wide with concern. The group had grown concerned, planning a search today. They knew Tony and Olivia could take care of themselves—they had managed a month alone—they hadn't been too overly concerned yet.

"We, uh, we went a little further than expected." Olivia lied awkwardly, taking her brother's subtle advice. "We didn't want to be out when it got dark. There were—uh—more houses than we expected… we didn't want to leave without lookin'."

"Did you find anything? Any sign of Sophia?" Lori asked, concern shining in her eyes.

"Nothin' to suggest_ Sophia_…" Olivia trailed off, not exactly lying about what happened out in the houses. She looked around the campsite—noticing the lack of people. "Where is everyone?"

"They're… _around. _I think Andrea and T-Dog went out lookin' for you two…" Lori said vaguely. She avoided the stern look Dale was shooting her. She figured they should let Olivia relax before telling her about the Walkers in the barn. Give her at least a couple of minutes of peace before they told her the bad news. "Are you hungry? I can make you something. Thirsty? You look exhausted. Sit down and relax."

Olivia looked between Lori and Dale suspiciously. They were hiding something. Olivia shook it off—she was too tired to care. "That would be nice of you. I've had nothing but granola bars in the last twenty-four hours. I'm starving!"

Lori nodded, rubbing Olivia's arm compassionately. "Sure, Olivia. You go wash up." Lori brought her quickly into another hug—savoring the feeling of her skin—_warm _skin. Olivia was _alive_.

"_Thank you_." Olivia said as graciously as she could before turning to go to the water pump. She noticed Carl sitting at the picnic table Lori had been at—Rick's hat on his head. "Carl, my man! You're lookin' better!"

"Hey Liv." Carl said with a laugh. "You're lookin' _terrible_."

"Wow, you get shot and all of a sudden you think you're all that." Olivia said chuckling and took the hat off of his head to ruffle his hair. "Now, I'm going to wash up, but when I get back I'm gonna whoop your ass for that sass."

Carl smiled at her, jerking his hat back out of her hands and shoving it on his head. "I'm not scared of you." He told her determinedly.

"I know you ain't. You got shot and didn't even bat an eyelash. Pretty hard to scare someone as tough as you." Olivia laughed, watching the kid's chest puff out with pride. She began walking away, her legs aching with every step. "See ya in a bit, kid."

She wiped her brow with the back of her dirt-covered hand. It was going to be sweltering today—and that wasn't helping her any. She was exhausted and the humidity made her blood-splattered clothes stick to her sweaty skin. And she was pretty sure she had popped her stitches with all the running last night. Olivia had a half-mind to just strip right there and then and spend the rest of the day stark naked. But she didn't think the others would take kindly to that.

When she got to the pump, the cool water felt heavenly on her skin—like she was finally itching a scratch. She sat there scrubbing away grime and Walker blood until she saw her own tanned flesh again. Olivia seemed to be covered in blood more oft than not these days and she was more than eager to break the habit.

Olivia began filling a bucket with water—her intention to dump it over her head and scrub the filth out of her tangled brown hair. As the water gushed into the bucket she took the time to look around. The camp looked the same, but everyone was gone—save for Lori, Carl, and Dale. She figured maybe Glenn had gone into town again, and maybe Rick and Shane were out looking for her and Tony. She found it a little odd that everyone was gone and a little hurt that a bigger fuss wasn't made about her and Tony missing. But, maybe they knew the siblings could take care of each other—Sophia was the higher priority at the moment. Olivia could forgive the group for that, _if _that were the case.

The bucket was filled and Olivia was about to lift it and pour it over her head when she heard someone come stomping up behind her. She turned around and saw Daryl who had an angry look on his face. Olivia ignored it, pleased to see the hunter walking around—clearly his injury was getting better.

"Hey Daryl! Nice to see you up and—"

"Where the _hell _have you been?" He cut her off with a snarl as he took in her appearance. She had dark bags under eyes and her clothes were covered in dirt and blood. Her hair was dull and matted, sticking at odd angles from her head. Even her eyes seemed to sparkle a little less. She looked like she had been dragged to hell and back.

Olivia was taken aback by his anger and blinked up at him. "Uh, Tony and I went further than expected and—"

"_You went further than expected_?" He said disbelievingly and threw out an angry arm. "And you just calmly walk back into camp like nuthin' happened?"

"Well, we only just got back…" Olivia mumbled, confused at what Daryl was getting at. "And there was no one around so…. Yeah?"

"Jesus Christ, woman. Are you stupid? You could have been killed for all we knew." He raged, stepping closer to her and glaring. "And that's just what we fuckin' need; another missing person. Think of that next time you decide go fuckin' _campin'_!"

Olivia stared up at him as he breathed heavily, glowering at her. She really wasn't in the mood to fight—and his yelling was giving her a headache. "Fuck off, Daryl." She hissed and Daryl began shaking with anger.

"You can't be goin' off like that, Olivia! That's what I'm tryin' to get it through the thick skull o' yers." He snarled dangerously.

"We didn't mean to, Daryl! But we're back now. End of story. I don't see why it's such a big deal any—" She stopped and blinked up at him, realization hitting her like a brick. "Oh. You were worried." Olivia said finally. She felt embarrassed and flattered at the same time. No one outside her family had ever really _worried_ about her before. Suddenly she was stuttering and flushing like a schoolgirl. "I—uh, I'm _sorry_ I worried you. We really didn't mean to stay out all night."

Daryl suddenly flushed and jumped back from Olivia like she had the plague. He shifted his weight awkwardly—tensing up. She was _right_. He _was_ worried. Daryl himself hadn't even been aware of the fact—his reactions had been purely instinctual. When Tony and her hadn't come back last night he had gotten pissy, bothering everyone at camp. This morning had been even worse. Especially because the rest of the group had been concerned with the Walkers in the barn—Olivia and Tony had all but been forgotten. Daryl had had every intention of going out looking for them himself if Carol hadn't stopped him. Then he comes back to camp just to see her casually washing up at the pump—acting as if nothing was the matter… Daryl had seen red. Only now did he realize that it was because he had been concerned for her safety. He hadn't even thought about it before.

"What? I ain't worried, woman." He denied, shaking his head. "Just you should know better is all I'm gettin—" Daryl stopped his mumbling suddenly as Olivia walked up to him and snaked her arms around his torso. He froze—not sure what to do. First Carol saying she cared about him now this? What was going on with the women of this camp?

Olivia hugged him in part because she wanted him to shut up—her headache was getting worse—but also because she had become overwhelmed with emotion. And now that she had her arms around his muscular torso, she was glad she_ had_ embraced him. Despite the awkwardness of it—her skin was sticking to his sweaty shirt and he smelled like he hadn't showered in days—it was comforting. She was exhausted, cranky, hungry, and even a little frightened. Hitting the men over the head with the bat kept replaying in her head and she could still hear the sickening _cracks _the wood had made meeting their skulls. Olivia felt as if they were going to pop around the corner any minute coming for her. Daryl offered a sturdy pillar of comfort in her spinning world.

When Daryl got over the initial shock of having the tiny woman embracing him he made a motion to break free from her. It wasn't that he didn't like it—the exact opposite, actually. He just didn't like the ooey gooey feelings that he got from it. His heart was racing and his face felt like it was on fire. He had goose bumps going up his arms from where her skin met his and he couldn't help but acknowledge how perfect she felt there—her head just below his chin. He had never enjoyed a simple hug more.

But he was self-conscious. He felt that if he were to embrace her back he would be left vulnerable, and she would tease him for it. He could practically hear Merle chirping in his ear just for allowing the hug to go on for this long. _Pussy._ Daryl could hear Merle sneering. _Cuddling like a girl, what's matter with you, Darlena?_

Daryl put his hands on Olivia's arms—ready to pry her off when he felt her trembling. He stopped and stood there for a moment, feeling her shake; when he realized that for some reason she was _frightened._ He wondered briefly if it was because of him but quickly shot that thought away. It took more than yelling to spook the headstrong brunette.

Taking in a breath, Daryl hesitantly wrapped his arms around Olivia—pulling her against him. He could have groaned at the feeling of her hard little body against his and he didn't know if it was because it had been a while since he had been with a woman or if it was Olivia herself. Nonetheless, Daryl held her and felt her trembling die down.

"What happened out there?" He asked her softly after a while, his nose twitching—trying to get her wild hair out of his face.

Olivia didn't say anything at first, just tightening her grip on his grimy shirt. She didn't know whether to tell him the truth or not. "I told you." She said finally. " We got caught out further than we expected and—"

"That's why you're trembling like a spooked deer?" He cut her off, tightening his grip around her subconsciously. "I don't think that's the complete truth."

Olivia sighed, momentarily forgetting what they were talking about as he held her. It had been so long since she'd been… _hugged_. And knowing that it was Daryl hugging her made it all the more better. He seemed like the type to never show emotions other than anger—let alone compassion. And here he was, embracing her, _comforting her_. She might have been trembling from fear earlier but now it was because of a completely different reason. _Good Lord, those arms of his._

"Oakley?" He murmured, his chest rumbling deliciously.

"Hmm? Oh. It's because—" Dear god, he just laid his head on hers. "I'm _trembling_ because you're holding me so intimately." She resorted to humor, avoiding admitting she was scared of something that happened _yesterday_.

"Of course you are." Daryl muttered, getting annoyed. To his credit, he didn't blush. He was beginning to understand the Bridge family's way of dealing with vulnerable emotions—with humor, sarcasm, and bullying. "What happened?"

"Uh, there might have been an incident with two other survivors when we were out there…" She said quickly.

Daryl pulled away from her, gripping her forearms and stared hard at her. She almost pouted at the loss of contact but kept on an indifferent face. "Incident? Mind elaboratin'?"

"We… erm… Tony and I were searching through some old abandoned farmhouses." She began, giving in to the intense stare Daryl was giving her. Tony be damned. "And we found the body of a guy who'd been murdered—wasn't bit or anythin'—just shot clean in the head. Couple of houses later we found the guys who might've done it. Well… they found us more like."

Daryl didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow, urging her to go one.

Olivia looked down, a little nervous of how he was going to react at the next part. "One of 'em had Tony at gunpoint. I managed to knock out the other one with my bat and snuck up on the other one and got him too. Tony and I took the long way back to make sure they didn't follow us here."

Olivia peered into Daryl's face nervously as her words sunk in. She could see the storm raging underneath those piercing blue eyes of his. She ran her hands up and down his arms—his beautiful, muscular arms—in an attempt to calm him down.

"You, um, knocked 'em out?" Daryl swallowed, trying to keep his anger in check.

"I didn't see what else I could do. The big guy had Tony at gun point."

Daryl stepped away from her, breathing deeply. He couldn't believe this woman—her and her hero's complex. "You coulda been killed!" He raged. "What if he woulda turned his gun on you?"

"But he didn't." Olivia massaged her temples—her head beginning to throb again. First Tony had yelled at her, now Daryl. She was getting sick of assuring them she could take care of herself. "What was I supposed to do?" She snapped angrily. "Leave Tony there to die? Fuck that! I did what I had to, and it worked. Can we _please_ move on?"

"Son of a _bitch!_" Daryl was shifting his weight angrily. He wanted to yell at her—scream until she promised to never risk her life again but he knew it would be fruitless. Olivia did what Olivia wanted. And the fact of the matter was that she _was _alive. He couldn't change the past, he could only be mad at it. "That's what got you so spooked?"

"I am _not _spooked."

"Fine. _Nervous_ then." He fumed, rolling his eyes. He began pacing, murmuring almost to himself. "So there are these dangerous people out there? Murders? _Fuck_. Just what we _fuckin'_ need. Walkers in the barn, Sophia's missin', and now we gotta worry other livin' people too."

"What?" Olivia asked suddenly, hearing what Daryl was muttering. "Walkers in the barn?"

"Yeah. Hershel has been stuffin' all the Geeks he can lay his hands on into the barn. Thinks their gonna find a cure or sumthin'. Guys insane." He said, almost dismissively. It was old news to him. The threat of these other people was more concerning to him at the moment. Especially because they could have killed Olivia.

"What the _fuck!"_ Olivia yelled, freaking out and turning fearful eyes to the innocent looking barn. "What the fuck are we doin' just standin' around then? Let's _go_."

Olivia made a move to go storming back to the camp to get her guns—her intentions to go and shoot all the Walkers she could. Daryl saw her determined steps and jumped forward and grabbed her wrist, yanking her to his side.

"Rick's gonna talk to Hershel!" He hissed in her ear, trying to keep her from squirming away from him. His sides were protesting the struggle but he ignored the pain.

"And Rick's gonna do whatever Hershel tells him to." She reasoned. She continued to struggle until she heard him grunt in pain. Olivia had forgotten about his injuries. "Fuck that! I don't wanna be anywhere near those freaks! Those t_hings_ can't be cured! They are only a danger to us all!"

"I know! That's what Rick's gonna tell 'im." Suddenly Daryl was the calm one and Olivia was the live wire. Daryl didn't know what to do—he was usually the one who needed calming down.

"_Fuck!" _Olivia mumbled, shaken. She didn't know how much stress she could take. She was going to get grey hairs if shit like this kept happening. She ran a hand through her filthy hair and let out a shuddering breath. "Holy. _Fucking._ Shit."

"Listen. Things'll work out. Don't worry. We'll get through it." Daryl said stiffly, not sure what to say as he released her. He was surprisingly trying to comfort the angry woman. "You should, uh, wash up. You look worse than the Geeks right now. We'll figure this other shit out later."

"Thanks." Olivia said dryly, looking at him blankly. She was still pissed beyond belief and wanted nothing more to go and clean out the barn. But Daryl said to wait it out, and for some reason she wanted to listen to him.

Daryl nodded gruffly and began hobbling back to Tent City, while Olivia blatantly admired his ass, a method of easing her anger. _Daryl fucking Dixon, huh._

After a moment she returned her worried gaze back to the apparently inhabited barn. What the fuck were they going to do now?

* * *

It took Tony a while to find Rick—he wasn't around camp and not in the farmhouse. He had passed Glenn and Andrea—even caught a glimpse of Carol keeping to herself—but Rick just wasn't around… Shane either.

He turned his gaze to the barn and shrugged to himself. Hershel didn't want the group down there but it was worth a shot to check. Tony hurried down—just wanting to get this conversation over with so he could go sleep. His head was pounding something awful and his nose felt even worse. He hadn't had time to clean up so he was sure he looked like a mess—covered in dirt and his own blood. He could already tell he had a bruise from where the guy—Nate—had hit him.

As he approached the barn he heard angry voices and he hesitated—not sure if he should get involved. But then he felt sweat drip down his neck and he made up him mind. Fuck if he was interrupting shit, he just wanted to _sleep. _

Tony continued on and saw Rick storming in his direction. _Finally. _Shane was leaning against a broken down tractor by the barn looking pissed. "Rick!" Tony called out in relief.

"Oh thank God." Rick's head shot up and took in Tony. "Tony! You're back! Olivia too?"

Tony nodded as Shane looked over at them and came over too—anger put aside at the sight of Tony. "What the hell happened to you?" Shane asked taking in Tony's blood-soaked t-shirt and face.

"That's actually what I want to talk to y'all about." Tony nodded, making the decision to include Shane. The man was part of the decision making team, after all. "Liv and I ran into some trouble. Had to stay out there."

"What happened?" Rick asked worriedly, taking in Tony's exhausted and battered appearance. Whatever he had to say, it didn't seem like it would be anything _good_. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Liv is too. Just exhausted. Spent all night cooped up in the trunk of a car. Nose is broken, but Liv reset it. She's just as good as settin' 'em as she is at breakin' 'em." Tony laughed before he glanced around, wanting to discuss this only with Rick and Shane. "So we went out the ridge Daryl found the doll and north-west of there—to the farmhouses on the map. First house we searched we found a dead body."

"What? Like a Walker?" Shane questioned confused about what Tony was getting at.

Tony shook his head. "Nah, like a dead body. He'd been murdered. Liv and I searched him for bites but the only thing wrong with this guy was the bullet in his head. And it was fresh. The guy was still warm."

"What are you saying? There are people out there who _killed _this man?" Rick asked, his stomach clenching painfully. Just what they needed. More bad news.

"Yeah. We kept searching the houses—which was our first mistake. They found us. Liv had stayed back in the house and I went to keep watch. There were two of 'em. Snuck up and hit me—broke my nose."

"And they let you _live?_" Shane said incredulously. From the sounds of it—these were bad men—not the type to let others go willingly.

Tony shook his head and huffed out a breath. "Not exactly. They wanted to know if I had come from a group and I told him it was just Liv and I. The one went looking for her and the next thing I know Liv's creeping up behind the guy with his gun on me and hitting him over the head with a bat. She knocked 'em both out. We got the hell out of dodge after that. We went further north—took the long way home. Went back to the interstate and holed up there. Made sure they didn't follow us."

"Good, good." Rick said quietly, pacing and running a hand through his hair. "Was it just the two of 'em?"

"They said somethin' about coming from a larger group." Tony nodded before a grim expression settled on his beaten face. "That's not even the worst of it. They were plannin' on raping Liv when they found her. Said she wasn't the first."

"Shit." Shane whistled through his teeth, his face getting pale. "Thank god your sister's feisty."

"It was pretty far from here." Tony told them. "But I'm still worried that they might come down this way."

"Don't tell the rest of the group." Rick said sternly, looking between Tony and Shane. "No sense in worryin' 'em yet. I'll talk to Hershel 'bout it. For now we'll increase watch."

Shane scoffed at him. " Talk to Hershel? Like that's goin' to do anything. Just look how your negotiatin' is going."

"Negotiating?" Tony asked looking between the other men. "Negotiating what?"

"Hershel's been keepin' Geeks in the barn this whole time." Shane said before Rick could even open his mouth. "Rick here is tryin' to work out a deal here with the man, instead of goin' in and killin' 'em all like we should be doin'."

"Shane, we discussed this—"

"Walkers? In this barn here?" Tony asked calmly, interrupting Rick, his blood feeling like ice in his veins.

"Yeah." Rick nodded, peering at Tony, waiting for a reaction.

"Well shit. That barn's pretty secure then. Are there a lot in there?" He was strangely calm. But the way he saw it was that they had been here a couple days now and nothing happened. What harm could they really being doing? And he assumed Hershel had his reasons for keeping them in there. Besides, he was too tired to get angry.

"A dozen. Maybe more." Shane said impatiently. "Listen, man. How are you so calm about it?"

Tony grunted. "I'm not happy about it—I do think it's stupid to keep 'em in there. But I'm assumin' Mr. Hershel's got his reasons. And if we want to stick around here, we got to stay on the man's good side."

Shane let a breath of disbelief before storming back to watch the barn. "What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Rick and Tony exchanged worried glances before Rick clapped him on the shoulder. "You should go rest up. We'll talk about this other group later."

Tony bit his lip worryingly but nodded. He felt like shit and he just wanted to sleep. All the problems could wait until he got a proper eight hours in.

* * *

Olivia woke up a couple of hours later with a start. The sun was high in the sky and the inside of her and Tony's tent was sweltering, and her brother was snoring loudly next to her. She was once again soaked in sweat—she'd be visiting water pump again, she was sure.

She had been dreaming of yesterday. But instead of knocking the men out, she watched as Tony died. Over and over again. It made her sick with dread.

Olivia dragged her hand through her sweat-soaked hair and sighed. She turned her attention to her leg and inspected the cut. Luckily she hadn't popped them yesterday. She wasn't an expert but it looked pretty healed to her. She had had some form of stiches in it for nearly five days now—surely the stitches could come out now. She climbed out of the tent and decided to go find Hershel.

She looked around camp and found it empty again. Olivia looked nervously at the barn—but it was just as it had been—innocent and looming in the distance.

"Tony!" She called, not wanting to leave him alone. "Wake up, idiot."

He snorted and shot up, a wild expression in his tired blue eyes. When he didn't see anything of threat he sighed and flopped back down, dragging a sweaty arm over his face to cover his eyes. "Fuck off, Liv."

Olivia sighed, crouching down and nudging his foot. "You're not gonna be able to sleep tonight if you don't wake up now." She reasoned. "Come on, everyone else is gone and I want to go find Mr. Hershel."

"Why do you need me?" Tony groaned, jerking his leg away from her. His head was aching and nose throbbing. "Go find him yourself."

She huffed. "Come on, Tony. I don't want to leave you here alone."

Tony sighed. It was boiling inside the tent and he didn't think he'd be able to get back to sleep—especially with Olivia whining at him so he got up and climbed out of the tent. "Fine." He said stiffly. "Let's go."

They took off towards the Greene house and quickly found the group. They—along with the Greene family—were all lounging around outside the house. As the siblings approached they rose to their feet.

"Dale said you got back earlier!" Glenn gushed, rushing over. "We thought we lost you." He said jokingly, but fear underlined his words. When the Bridges hadn't returned he had been truly frightened. Scared that they were lost—or worse. It was a relief that they were here, almost completely fine.

"Nah, you can't get rid of us that easy." Tony laughed, clapping Glenn on the shoulder. "…_What _are you wearing?" Glenn's baseball cap had been replaced by sun hat. It didn't suit him.

Glenn just chuckled lightly as he went back to sit by Maggie—who he had reconciled with. It was nice being on good terms with her—her anger was fearsome. In a way, he was more scared of Maggie than he was of Olivia.

Tony and Olivia quickly greeted the others—glad to have been missed so much. The group had been nervous. There was so much shit happening at the moment—and Olivia and Tony were valuable members of the group… they _needed_ them.

Olivia walked up the porch steps and saw Beth sitting on the porch bench alone. She walked over and sat next to her. "Beth, right?" The girl nodded. "Your Dad in? I need him to check on my stitches."

The younger blonde shook her head. "No, him and Rick went out earlier. Haven't returned yet." Olivia looked suspiciously at the girl and couldn't help but wonder if she knew about the Walkers in the barn. But Beth had a sweet and innocent look about her—as if she had been untouched by the apocalypse. Olivia doubted that Beth would have been able to keep a secret as big as that one.

"Darn." Olivia mumbled, gazing around the farm, hoping to see Hershel and Rick approaching. But she only saw Daryl and Carol walking over. She didn't fail to notice to see the smile Carol shot Daryl, and Olivia felt oddly jealous—which she would never admit.

Andrea and T-Dog came walking up at that moment too. "Do you know what's goin' on?" T-Dog asked as Glenn stood up. Both him and Andrea looked confused.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea asked.

"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn asked, just as confused.

"He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea told him.

"Yeah, you were." Daryl said as he and Carol joined them. He was irritated at the sight of the blonde; she and Rick were supposed to go looking for Olivia—and Tony and Sophia. Not that it mattered anymore, the Bridges were back—but they hadn't known that a couple of hours ago. "What the hell?"

"Rick told us he was going out." Carol confirmed.

Daryl looked around at the group was exchanging confused looks. "Damn it! Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail!" He threw out an angry arm, turning to face the road. He was pissed off at them. They're all just sitting around doing nothing when they should be out looking. He'd be out there if he could. He then saw Shane walking towards them with the gun bag slung over his shoulder. Daryl let out a grunt. _Finally. _Maybe now they'd get some answers. "Oh, here we go. What's all this?"

Shane walked up, a grim look on his face and shoved a rifle into the hunter's hands. Olivia jumped on her feet and bounded down the porch steps. Whatever Shane was planning on doing, Olivia was getting involved. Even if that meant stopping him.

"You with me, man?" Shane asked Daryl gruffly.

"Yeah." Daryl took the rifle and gripped it tightly, clueing in on what Shane was doing.

"Time to grow up." He turned to Andrea. "You already got yours?"

Andrea clutched the gun on her waist and nodded. "Yeah. Where's Dale?"

"He's on his way."

"Thought we couldn't carry?" T-Dog asked, but grabbed a gun nonetheless.

Shane looked at him before proceeding to hand weapons out to the rest of the group. Olivia once again had her glock in her hands and Tony grabbed a rifle. "We can and we have to." Shane told them determinedly. "Look, it's one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't!" He shouted at the group and then turned to Glenn. "How 'bout you, man? You gonna protect yours?"

Glenn looked between Shane and Maggie, debating, before grabbing the rifle out of Shane's grasp. He didn't want to risk Maggie getting hurt because of her father's mistakes.

"That's it." Shane muttered approvingly. "Can you shoot?" He asked Maggie.

"Can you stop?" She retorted angrily. She had never like Shane from the get go. He always seemed to act irrationally and impulsively. He was a wild card to say the least. "You go this, you hand out those guns, my Dad will make you leave tonight."

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl piped up. That's what Rick had told him. And his mom.

"What is this?" Lori snapped, walking across the porch to glare at the man.

"We ain't goin' anywhere, okay?" Shane told them. "Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Ok? He—well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh?" He tried appealing to the group's soft nature. He knelt before Carl—needing to convince the kid. "Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go one, take the gun and do it."

Lori leapt forward, snarling, and pushed Carl behind her. "Rick said no guns. This is_ not _your call. This is not your decision to make."

"Listen to her, man." Tony appealed. "She's right. We can't go around disrespectin' Mr. Hershel. He said no guns, so we should obey him."

"You really feel safe walkin' 'round defenseless while there are Geeks just metres away? And now especially with that other group out there?" Shane snapped back, irritated with the group's reluctance. He couldn't understand it. Rick just comes in and suddenly he's the leader without a question. And a bad one at that.

"Wait. Other group?" Andrea asked, catching what Shane said. "What are you talking about?" No one answered her.

Olivia looked around at the group. She didn't know whose side she was on. She felt safer just having her gun back on her but this farm was a nice set up. She didn't want to leave for something as silly as a gun.

"Oh shit." T-Dog said suddenly and everyone followed his gaze. Out of the woods, near the barn, was Rick, Jimmy, and Hershel. They were carrying these longs sticks with... Walkers at the end.

"What the fuck?" Olivia yelled, gripping her gun tighter and walking around the others to get a closer look. They were walking around like the Geeks were dogs on a chain. What the fuck was going on? Olivia was _not _okay with this.

Suddenly Shane took off running in Rick's direction and most of the group was quickly on his trail—only Lori and Tony left behind protesting.

Olivia quickly broke through the gate just be in the midst of screaming.

"What the hell are you doin'?"

"Shane, just back off!"

"Why do your people have guns?"

"Are you kiddin' me? You see! You see what they're holdin' onto?" Shane snarled, circling the men struggling with the Walkers, appealing to the rest of the group.

"I see _who _I'm holdin' onto!" Hershel snapped back, panicking now.

"No man, you don't!"

"Shane! Just let us do this and then we can talk!"

"What do you want to talk about, Rick?" Shane snarled, dodging the flailing limbs of the Rotters. Olivia followed closely behind—gun trained on the Geeks. "They ain't sick! They're _not_ people! They're dead! Ain't gonna feel nothin' for them, 'cause all they do, they kill!" He continued to rant.

"Mr. Hershel." Olivia tried calmly, pleading to the old man. "We met a doctor at the CDC. He showed us a MRI. These people _die. _Somethin' kickstarts their brainstems to get 'em up walkin' again, but they're _dead_. There is no coming back from that."

Hershel looked at her and just shook his head—disbelieving. He wasn't about to _just_ give up on these people. On his family. Suddenly, Shane was raving again and Hershel snapped his head in the hysterical man's direction.

Shane loaded a bullet into his gun and took aim. "Could a living, breathing, person, could they walk away from this?" He carelessly fired off multiple shots into the female Walker Hershel was guiding—to everyone's horror. Hershel looked at the Walker as if seeing it for the first time. "Could someone that's alive, could they just take that? Why's it still coming?" Shane continued to shoot the thing, driving his point home.

Olivia couldn't believe what was happening. What had make Shane snap in this way? She knew he had been acting strangely the past couple of days but this… this was insane. However right he was in his points, this was _not_ the way to prove it.

Shane finally stopped and walked forward, shooting the thing in the head, killing it for good. Everyone froze, Shane had really lost it.

"Enough searching for a little girl that's gone!" He shouted, and Carol gasped. How could he? "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us!" He looked meaningfully at Rick before glaring around at the group. "Now, if you want to live, if you want to _survive_ you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting! Right here, right now!"

Suddenly he was running towards the barn and unlocking the door—much to everyone's horror. Olivia, however, found herself on Shane's side. He had a point. And with all her pent up stress—killing a bunch of Walkers seemed like the best way to get rid of it—Hershel be damned. She cocked her gun—waiting for hell to release. They would all be a lot safer once this was done. One last thing to worry about.

Shane managed to smash off the lock and pry open the doors. Soon, dozens of Walker came spilling out of the barn. Olivia took a spot next to Daryl and Tony, firing off shots into any and every Walker she could. Frankly, it felt rejuvenating and it was all she could do from laughing manically. She could hear the sobs of the Greene family behind her, but she couldn't stop now. The Walkers had to be dealt with. And it felt so. Damn. Good. Killing them. She unleashed all her pent up anger.

It was over in a matter of minutes. Only silence remained. Olivia's breathing was labored as she turned to grin at her brother, who shook his head disapprovingly. Beth and Maggie were sobbing behind her.

Then growling came from the barn again. Olivia turned back around just in time for a Walker to come tripping out. It was a young girl with a blue shirt and khaki's. Her hair had once been a bright gold but was now a dim bronze—coated in dirt. Her skin was ghastly grey and dead eyes sat in her head. Olivia let out a gasp, her legs weak. _Sophia. _No, no, no, no.

Sophia was dead.

* * *

**Hey y'all! Mighty kind of you for ready this! And a special shout-out to all of you who reviewed! You're all peaches... and I love you. May your cookies never crumble!**

**-All my love, Delaney :)**


	16. Dazed and Confused

**Dazed and Confused**

_"You hurt and abuse tellin' all of your lies.  
Run around sweet baby, Lord how you hypnotize.  
Sweet little baby, I don't know where you've been.  
Gonna love you baby, here I come again."_

_-Dazed and Confused, Led Zeppelin_

* * *

Olivia felt numb. Her blood was pulsing loud in her head and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. It was as if she was underwater. Through a murky fog she could distantly hear screams of anguish, desperate calls of disbelief. Then there was a loud bang and Sophia was falling. But all Olivia saw was bronze hair dancing in the wind, ribbons of thick, black blood spiraling around it. It reinforced the very thing she had been so determined wouldn't happen. Sophia was truly and finally dead.

The bright young girl Olivia had gotten to know back in Atlanta was gone. Only a shell of a person remained. It wasn't fair. It _wasn't_ fucking fair. Sophia didn't deserve this. She was a child for Christ's sake. A fucking child. If there was a God up there, could he really be this cruel? And Carol. Oh, god. Poor Carol.

And Olivia had been having such a good time killing the Walkers. Almost laughing, even! What was _wrong_ with her? They had been people once… Sophia made her realize that. Those people Olivia had been joyfully shooting? They had been someone's mother, a son, a friend.

She began to back away, feeling disgusted with herself and bumped into Tony. Her brother gave her a sad smile and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He could almost _feel_ the anguish radiating off of her. Kids always affected her more than adults did.

Olivia shrugged off his hand angrily—how could he be _comforting_ her—ignoring the hurt look he gave her. She felt like screaming and as she watched Carol storm off sobbing, the feeling only multiplied.

With a sob, Beth stumbled forward to find the body of her mother. She had know she was dead, but in their very own _barn_? A shell of what she had once been… Tony could only pray that this wouldn't be the way they found Jared. He didn't know what he would do if that were the case.

Beth clutched her Mother's face in her hands when she started snarling. Everyone jumped to action as the Walker clutched hungrily at her screaming daughter. The open wound on her cheek seemed to pulsate as she snarled and thick globs of brown dripped out of it. This wasn't how Beth deserved to see her mom.

They struggled for a couple of minutes until Andrea was able to stick a stickle in the middle of the Walker's head—finally at rest. The group panted as they went about checking to make sure the others were dead too.

Olivia hung back, feeling nauseous. _These had been people. _The thought kept running through her mind like a broken radio. Her horror-filled gaze kept flitting from Beth to the shell of Sophia. She was stuck.

"Liv." Tony tried again softly. Hershel and his family began heading back to their house to morn—Shane, Rick, and Glenn on their tail. But Olivia was frozen and Tony wasn't sure what to do. "Liv. Are you alright?"

Olivia snapped her eyes to Tony and saw the pity and sadness in his eyes. She _hated _having those directions at her. She didn't _deserve _them. "I'm fine." She snapped, glaring. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Tony worked his jaw in frustration. Olivia only ever focused on her own pain. She would get angry and push everyone away—not realizing that maybe _they_ needed _her._ And all he was trying to do was help but… fuck it. He was hurting too. Sophia… he had cared for the little girl too. Children always seemed to be the victims of cruelty. He had seen it time and time again. It _haunted _him—the boy covered in blood begging for help.

"Fine. Whatever." He snapped back, irritated. "Let's go help out."

She nodded stiffly and marched forward with determination, intending to distract herself from her guilt by cleaning up the carnage. But as she looked at each rotted face she just felt worse. Olivia mentally apologized to each person. Sorry they were dead. Sorry she had killed them. Sorry she enjoyed it.

When the graves were dug and the bodies placed in them, the group gathered around. Olivia brought her eyes up to look at the people next to her. They were all there, except Carol. She saw the empty, sad faces. Sorrowful faces. _Guilty _faces. All of the painful emotions that were probably a reflection of her own.

The had a quick little ceremony but Olivia didn't pay much mind. The loving words and cherishing thoughts only reminded her of her guilt and as soon as the ceremony was over she was the first to leave. She shrugged off Tony's arm and stormed back to camp—her mind made up.

Olivia got into her tent and began throwing all of her stuff into her bag. She couldn't stay here anymore. She couldn't get anymore attached to these people. How many more would she see die? How long did she herself have? A day? A month? A year? Olivia didn't want to waste anymore time fucking around. Jared was why they came to Georgia in the first place and she wanted to find him before she died.

As she stuffed her clothes into her bag she felt her sadness dissolving. Now there was only anger that festered in her mind like an open sore. Angry at herself for not being able to save Sophia. Angry at Hershel for having a barn full of Walkers. Angry at Shane for opening the barn. Angry at Sophia for not listening to Rick. And angry with the group itself, because she had gotten attached to them.

"What are you doin'?" Tony's tired voice interrupted her rage as he came into the tent, surprised to see her stuffing her gear into a bag.

"Fort Benning." She said roughly. "That's where we agreed we were going' after we found Sophia, right? Well we found her."

Tony sighed and watched her with hurt eyes. She was running away. Again. "Liv… I don't think—"

"No, Tony!" She snapped, throwing a shirt down. Olivia finally looked at him and he was surprised to see her eyes were watery. "I can't get attached to these people… I just can't."

Tony wanted to hug her, but he knew she would just shrug it off. Her movement were harsh and sudden, her shoulders tense. He knew she was radiating with anger—blinded by it. "Liv… we can't just leave now. We don't have a plan, or supplies. And… can you really just leave them, now?" She let out something that sounded like a laugh but halted her movements. "Give it a couple of days… please Liv. And then we'll talk about it again."

Olivia turned to glare at him but stopped when she saw the look he was giving her. He was utterly defenseless—his face raw with emotion. Miserable. Desperate. He was just as beat up about this as she was and she realized that as much as she wanted to leave the group… Tony _couldn't_. He needed them.

Swallowing her pride and her anger, Olivia went over and hugged him. She felt better when she was the one giving the sympathy—it made her feel needed. And in that moment—he needed her.

Tony stiffened at her embrace but quickly wrapped his arms around her—burying his face in her filthy hair. He was sure he was crying all over her shoulder but he didn't care. The last time Olivia had hugged him like this had been at their Dad's funeral.

He always knew they handled grief differently. Tony was open about his emotions. When he was heartbroken, his cure was connecting with others—to feel human again. Olivia, on the other hand, did the exact opposite. She shrank back into herself and lashed out at everyone. She desperately wanted to seem strong—to _not_ be vulnerable. So much so that it turned catastrophic. Something that probably stemmed from Dad, he was sure.

She was a lot like Dad in that sense. He wasn't good with emotion, either, and had installed that into Olivia's head. _Toughen up, girl. I ain't got time for sniveling babies. _

After a while—when Tony stopped crying and Olivia had about as much vulnerable emotions as she could take she pulled away and gave Tony a sharp pat on the arm, clearing her throat. "I'm… I'm going to go for a walk."

Tony wiped his sore eyes and nodded—just glad he got _some_ comfort from her. "Alright. I'm going to go see if there is anything else I can do." They got up and exited the tent. Before Olivia could run away Tony reached out to grab her arm. "Thank you, Liv. I needed that."

"Don't mention it." She smiled stiffly, beginning to turn away.

"Y'know. You _can_ talk to me, Liv."

Sighing, Olivia turned back to him and gave him a genuine smile. "I know Tony. I know."

With that the siblings departed. Olivia wandered around, avoiding the others and couldn't help but acknowledge the moment she and Tony had shared. She'd never admit it… but she had needed that. She had needed her big brother. He knew her enough to turn the situation into being about his vulnerabilities—his weakness—instead of hers. He was wonderful and ten times the person she would ever be.

Her anger was still there, though. And disgust. And guilt. She just wanted to drown her sorrows and forget everything about having emotions.

Olivia walked around for a while when she caught glimpse of Hershel at his truck, looking as if he was going somewhere, but no one else was around.

Her curiosity won over her anger and she crept up to him. "Are you going somewhere, Dr. Greene?" She asked softly.

He jumped slightly and shot her a miserable look. "Can't you people leave me alone? Haven't you done enough?"

"I'm so sorry." Olivia winced at his accusation and looked down to her feet. "But I don't think you should be going anywhere alone." She may be angry beyond belief at everything that happened today, but she wasn't about lose anyone else. Not today.

Hershel stared at her in silence for a couple of minutes before seemingly seeing something in her and sighing to himself. "Get in, then."

Olivia hesitated, torn between wanting to keep Hershel company and desperately wanting to be alone. But Hershel's needs surpassed her own. That had been his wife in there. Olivia had barely known Sophia. She sighed. "Can you wait a couple of minutes? I should let Tony know where I'm going."

Hershel got into his truck and shot her a look. "I'm not waiting. Either you get in and we go now, or you don't go at all."

Olivia shot him a look and made her way around the truck to jump in. Hershel made quick business of turning on the truck and leaving the farm. They rode in silence—neither having nor wanting to discuss anything.

Hershel drove into town and pulled up to a building with a sign claiming _'Hatlin's'_. Like the rest of the buildings in the town, it was worn down with weeds growing in the cement. There wasn't much going on for Walkers so they were able to just casually walk in.

Hershel didn't hesitate going in, but Olivia paused at the entrance. On the door was a Public Health notice she had seen a million times before. It was an advertisement for a vaccination nicknamed the 'Wonder Drug', apparently preventative antiparasitic medicine against some new mutated strain of the African sleeping sickness that had migrated to rats and got in to America. Olivia found it oddly comforting to see something from her past life. Even if it was something she had found so annoying. It was funny how concerning that disease had seemed at the time. Now it was the least of their problems.

Shaking her head she finally entered the building and noticed Hershel had brought her to a bar. Olivia wanted to kiss the man. This was just what she needed—to drown her sorrows.

"You're a good man, Hershel Greene." Olivia said, helping herself to a beer from over the counter. "I like the way you think."

He looked at her before sighing and gazing mournfully at the liquid in his glass. "This'll be my first drink in ten years."

Olivia hesitated as she brought her the bottle to her lips. So he had been an alcoholic. She didn't know what to say. She _should_ chastise him for relapsing, but what good would that do? It's the end of the fucking world. Now's as good of time as any to _be_ an alcoholic. "Hope you picked a good one." She said simply, taking a long pull from her bottle and closing her eyes at the numbing feeling of the alcohol.

"The best." He said with a shake of his head and downing the glass in one gulp.

"Cheers." Olivia muttered, quickly chugging her own.

The two drank in silence for a while, both trying to drown out their thoughts. Hershel downed two more and Olivia was onto her third beer before Hershel decided to speak. "Sorry about that girl."

"Sorry about your wife."

Hershel looked over and considered her for a moment before turning back to his glass. "We were perfectly happy before y'all came around. We were surviving and _oblivious_. We did everything in our power to help you out… and now…"

Olivia didn't say anything. There wasn't anything she _could_ say. He was right. The Greene's had been perfectly content to go on living in their oblivion. But it would have eventually shattered anyways. By them or by a herd of zombies. Eventually there perfect little world would have shattered and they'd most likely be dead. At least they had their lives this way.

"This was the first time it was someone I knew." Olivia said instead after a while and Hershel looked over at her curiously. "I mean, I had seen others die. Back in Atlanta. But they had been strangers. This was different. And she was just a kid. I guess I had been… _oblivious_ before this too, in a way."

Hershel looked at her and took another gulp of his drink. "I had always had hope that there would be a cure… but they just kept coming. Even after being shot."

"Guess this apocalypse thing is kind of permanent, huh?" She muttered and Hershel snorted in agreement. "I never took it seriously. Tony and I've been out there a month and it was all a game to me. I figured we just had to find Jared, and then simply wait and survive until they found a cure. And then this happened. Sophia happened." She took another large gulp and smacked the empty bottle on the counter and reached for another. "This is real. And there's no going back now."

"It's different when it's personal." He agreed.

They both sighed and Hershel filled his drink up again. Olivia stared dejectedly at her bottle, her head swimming deliciously. After a while they heard voices coming from behind them and they shared an annoyed look. Guess their pity party was over.

Hershel sighed again, just wanting to be alone. He didn't mind Olivia's presence next to him. She was a silent companion who seemed to understand his needs. He just wanted to go off the grid for a while. But that apparently wasn't going to happen.

As Rick and Glenn entered the bar, Olivia and Hershel didn't even bother turning around. Maybe if they pretended the men weren't there they'd go away.

"Olivia." Rick said in surprise as he looked between the two. "Hershel."

"Who's with you?" Hershel sighed and Olivia turned around to gaze at her companions.

"Glenn." Rick replied, putting his gun away and hesitantly walking over to the bar.

Hershel let out a snort. "Maggie sent him?" He wasn't blind. He knew his daughter had taken a liking to the young Rhee boy. Of course she would send him to come babysit dear old dad.

"He volunteered." Rick amended, shooting a disapproving look at Olivia as she took a swig from her drink. "He's good like that."

Rick and Glee approached the bar and Rick came to stand between Hershel and Olivia, sending a concerned look at the older man as he took another sip from his drink. "How many have you had, Hershel?"

"Not enough."

Rick shot a look to Glenn before turning to look at Olivia and took in the four bottles in front of her—not missing the half empty one she was currently nursing. "Olivia?"

"Just getting started." She replied with a small smile, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the counter. "Want to join in?"

Rick sent her a stern look. "Tony's not going to be too happy with you. Do you really think it's wise to be out gettin' drunk in a Walker-infested town—"

"Let the girl have a drink, Rick, leave her alone." Hershel grumbled, nursing his own drink. Olivia sent Rick a taunting smirk, pointedly taking another large gulp of her beer.

Rick sighed and turned his attention back to Hershel. "Please. Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed, is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think y'all are too." He looked at Olivia pointedly.

Olivia listened to Rick but found it hard to care about the words he was talking about. Not when the beer was so good and she felt so light. Nothing in the world mattered at that moment.

Evidently Hershel seemed to agree. He looked at Rick vaguely concerned but turned back to his drink. "Maggie's with her?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "But Beth needs you."

"What could I do?" Hershel grumbled resentfully. "She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn… like she should have done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." Hershel could see how stupid he had been now. He had been idiotic in hoping there was an end to this. And his family had paid the price.

Olivia looked at him sympathetically and reached over to top his glass off. He took a grateful sip from and nodded at her. Rick glared at her again but she didn't care; they were mourning. They deserved to have a couple of drinks.

"You thought there was a cure." Rick tried again, after exchanging a meaningful look with a nervous Glenn. "Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope."

Hershel scoffed. "Hope? When I first saw you running across that field with that boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive."

"But he did."

Olivia snorted into her drink. "But Sophia didn't."

Rick turned to her with another sharp look. "You're not helping any, Olivia." She just raised her hands in defense, too drunk to care.

"He did." Hershel agreed finally. "Even though we lost Otis, your man Shane made it back and we saved _your_ boy."

Olivia slumped back in her chair with a snort. "Now ain't that suspicious?"

"That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham." Hershel said, agreeing with Olivia's sudden suspicions of Shane. Through everything they had been through the last couple of days, Hershel was more than a little suspicious of Rick's right hand man. "A bait and switch."

Olivia started at that. Was Hershel saying what she think he was saying? Did he think Shane _left_ Otis out there? Couldn't be. She was just drunk. That's all.

"I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that." Hershel trailed off, filling his glass again.

Rick didn't say anything for a few moments, not knowing exactly how to console the man, so he turned to Olivia.

"Don't start on me, Rick." She groaned at the look he was giving her, flopping forward onto the counter. "I saw Mr. Green here leaving and couldn't let him go off on his own. Or drink alone, for that matter. It looks a lot less sad when you have company."

"We could use your help with Beth, too." She lifted her head to look at him curiously. "You were a counselor, right? You could talk to her."

Olivia groaned. "What am I supposed to say to her, Rick? It'll get better one day? I can't lie to her. We're all doomed." Olivia paled at the thought and finished off her bottle, before reaching for another. Rick had other ideas and pulled her chair back so she couldn't reach anymore. She glared up at him as her fingers grasped at empty air.

"I'm cutting you off." He said unamused. "You've helped kids deal with grief before. Help Beth out."

"Have you seen the way _I _deal with grief?" Olivia snorted, gesturing to the empty beer bottles. "I'm not exactly the best person to be doling out advice."

"No, you're not." Rick agreed harshly and Olivia glared up at him. "But you used to be and you're the best we got at the moment."

Olivia sighed and slumped in her chair, feeling ashamed. God, she was pathetic. "Well, get me some water to sober up, then. I'll go when Mr. Greene does."

Rick sighed, pouring her a glass of water and walking back to have a word with Glenn. Olivia grumbled to herself as she sipped on the water and turned to look at Hershel who was glaring down at his drink. When she saw he was in no rush to move she contemplated grabbing another beer.

"Do we just wait for them to pass out?" She heard Glenn ask behind them.

"Just go." Hershel heard too and glared even more harshly at his drink. "Just go!"

Rick rolled his eyes and approached the bar again. "I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe. And Tony would kill me if I didn't do the same with Olivia."

Hershel chuckled darkly to himself. "Just like you promised that little girl?"

Silence. Olivia shifted her glare to Hershel and suddenly made up her mind. _Time to stop being pathetic, Rick has a point. _She stood up and jerked the liquor out of his hand and replaced it with her water. She was okay when he was being dark and cynical towards himself… but about Sophia? That wound was far too fresh. Just the thought of her made Olivia felt guilty again. She had let Sophia down now Hershel was letting Beth down. She wouldn't stand for it.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Hershel asked angrily, shifting in his chair to glare at his drinking companion.

"Sober up." She said forcefully. "Beth needs you." Olivia grabbed the bottle Hershel had been pouring from and took it back to her chair. She wobbled unsteadily and realized just how drunk she was. _Not good._

Hershel looked around him again, looking for another bottle and found one and pulled it over towards him. Rick walked angrily up to him as he saw this. "So, what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?"

Hershel had enough with them bothering him and stood up angrily, meeting Rick in the middle. "Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm! You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"

"The world was already in bad shape when we met!" Olivia snapped back, pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. "It was only a matter of time before that shit hit you! At least you're fucking alive!"

Hershel looked at her disbelievingly. He couldn't understand her sudden change in thinking. "So you take no responsibility?" He shouted at her before turning to Rick. "You're supposed to be their leader!"

Rick had enough with the man's self pity. "Well I'm here now, aren't I?" He snarled back at Hershel.

The doctor looked at Rick angrily, trying to get a read on him. "Yes." He admitted. "Yes. Yes, you are." He turned and walked back to the bar, a frown etched heavily on his face. He sat back at the bar, glancing at the two drinks before him and hesitantly picked up Olivia's water glass.

This didn't go unnoticed by Rick and he pounced on the opportunity. "Now, come on. Your girls need you now more than ever."

While Hershel was slowly giving in, he was still angry beyond belief at Rick. He was like a bee that kept buzzing in his ear. He shoved off the younger man's hand and glared up at him. "I didn't want to believe you! You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that!"

Olivia swerved over to Hershel and put a hand on his shoulder and he gave her a watery smile. He could tolerate her at the moment. She _understood_ him. "But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming… that's when I knew what an ass I'd been. That Annette had been dead a long time ago, and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope! And when that little girl came out of that barn, the look on your face—" He paused to look up at Rick and then more meaningfully with Olivia. "I knew you knew it too. Right?"

Olivia smiled sadly and gripped his shoulder—he already knew her thoughts on the matter. The doctor lifted his shoulder and gripped her hand sadly. "There is no hope." Hershel finished miserably.

Rick's hard gaze wavered and he looked at the ground and glancing over at Glenn. He didn't want to admit it, but he was loosing hope. How was he supposed to be brave when not even kids were safe? His own son was already becoming hardened! This was no place for children.

"You can't give up, Mr. Greene." Olivia said softly, surprising everyone.

Hershel looked up at her, confused. "Am I hearing right? You've been with me this whole time. You know it's just as hopeless as I do."

"Yeah." She shrugged, sitting on the chair next to him in an attempt to stop the room from spinning. "But I'll be damned if I let those Rotters be the end of me."

"What's the point? There is no hope for any of us."

Rick slapped his hand on the table, getting fed up with the man's pity party. "Look, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore, cleaning up after you. You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed! Death is death! It's always been there. Whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a Walker! What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you?" He paused to let his words sink in. "And now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us! Even if it's just to give them a reason to go on! Even if we don't believe it ourselves!"

Olivia watched him carefully and let his words sink in. She finally understood why he was the leader. He _understood._

"You know what? This—this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them."

Hershel considered this and it stuck a chord with him. He might have gave up on this god forsaken world… but he couldn't give up on his daughters. If he had any reason for living—any purpose—it was them. He needed to stay alive for them. Just as Olivia's purpose was to stay alive for Tony. And to find Jared. They had to live for each other in an abandoned world.

Hershel glanced at the water in his hands and chugged it down, Olivia mimicking his actions. Rick smiled lightly as he saw them give in and patted Hershel on the back just as the doors to the bar opened. Olivia stayed sitting, fidgeting with her glass as she waiting for the men to leave. But they were frozen.

Rick and Hershel's gaze were focused on the two men in the doorway. One thick. One skinny. But both equally grimy—like they had been travelling for days—and neither looking too friendly.

The strangers—upon seeing there were others in the bar let out a chuckle. "Son of a bitch!" The thinner one said, turning to his companion. Olivia froze in her chair, slouching down as if to hide. Her heart began pounding and fear froze her in her spot. _That voice sounded so familiar._ "They're alive!"

Rick and Hershel stared at them flabbergasted and upon hearing no one moving Olivia hesitantly glanced behind her and felt a clamp grab hold of her heart. It was _them_. The men from before, the ones who threatened to kill her and Tony. The rapists. The _murderers._

Well, if they weren't fucked before, they seriously were now.

* * *

**Hey gang... sorry it's been so long since an update. I've had quite a busy summer! And I was just too _happy_ to write such a depressing chapter... But got in the mood because of back to school :/**

**Anywho... should be updating more often now... Was in kind of a slump with this chapter... I have so much planned further along but this chapter was hard so me... **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**love, Delaney :)**


	17. Have A Drink On Me

**Have A Drink On Me**

_"Whiskey, gin and brandy  
With a glass I'm pretty handy  
I'm trying to walk a straight line  
On sour mash and cheap wine  
So join me for a drink boys  
We're gonna make a big noise"  
_

_-Have A Drink On Me, AC/DC_

* * *

The smell of burning flesh was something you never forgot. Even after eight years it was something Tony remembered vividly. Sometimes, he even dreamt about it. And lately he had been _smelling_ it more and more. Just a price he had to pay—he guessed—if he was to survive the apocalypse.

After Liv and him had parted ways he had gone off with Shane, T-Dog, and Andrea to dispose of the left over bodies—the bodies of someone _else's_ loved ones. It was a disgusting and disheartening job, but Tony preferred it over sitting around doing nothing. At least he could feel useful this way.

Together, the four of them watched as the flames ate away at the rotted flesh of the Walkers and reduced them to ash. If only it were that easy to deal with the rest of them.

"Well, this has been fun." Tony joked after a couple of minutes of staring into the flames of searing flesh. He turned and nodded to T-dog. "Unless you need anything else… you mind if I check up on Liv?"

Andrea and T-dog nodded, silently thanking him for helping out but Shane stepped forward, gesturing for Tony to follow him. "Can I talk to you a moment?"

Tony gave him a hesitant nod and followed. After the stunt Shane pulled that morning, Tony was more than a little wary of him.

"What's up?" Tony asked when they were a good distance away from Andrea and T-Dog.

Shane stopped and shifted his weight off of his bad ankle. He looked at Tony and then back at the burning bodies—seemingly indecisive. "Did, uh, did Olivia talk to you about what I said?"

"About Fort Benning?" Tony asked cautiously, not liking the direction of the conversation.

"Yeah, about Fort Benning. Did y'all discuss it?"

"Um. We've discussed it but haven't really come to… a decision yet." Tony said, putting it nicely, even though his answer was more along the lines of 'go to hell'. "Are you still planning on going?"

"I don't know." Shane sighed, sounding exhausted. He couldn't stand being here with the group who wouldn't listen to him but he just _couldn't_ leave Lori. He cleared his throat. "But if I do, I take it you and Olivia are choosing to stay."

Tony blinked at Shane, confused. "I didn't say that."

"Didn't have to." Shane laughed, turning his back on Tony and rubbing a hand over his head. Suddenly he spun around and shoved a finger in Tony's chest. "I'm sick and tired of you people. Y'all do anything Rick says just because he's the miracle man who came back from the dead!"

Tony took a step back, feeling like he was experiencing whiplash from Shane's sudden shift in emotions. Weren't Rick and Shane _friends_? "Calm down, man. I didn't say anything about Rick. I just think it's smarter to stick with the group."

Shane let out a snort. "Then you're a bigger idiot than I thought." Tony worked his jaw, getting annoyed. He considered himself a patient man but even he had his limits. "Rick's gonna be the death of you all! If he had any sense we would have been at Fort Benning already! We're wasted too much time here!"

Shane stopped and grabbed his head as if trying to pull hair out of his head and Tony could only watch as he turned away and paced angrily. "Am I the only one not blind? I care for _survival_! I ain't tip-toeing around some crazy guy 'cause he believes his it's his family in the barn! It was only a matter of time before they got out and I took it upon myself to have the advantage. Probably saved their lives! I'm just doing what needs to be done."

"I'm not saying you did anything wrong, Shane! Far as I'm concerned you did what had to be done." Tony raised his voice in exasperation. Shane stopped his pacing and looked at Tony with eyebrows raised in surprise. "You did the _right _thing. Those Rotters needed to be dealt with. But you could have used a little more—I don't know—_class_ about it. This _is_ Hershel's land. As much as you don't like it, we _need _to get along with him if we want to stay here."

"At the risk of _Walkers?" _Shane yelled, throwing an arm out. "At the risk of _dying_?"

"No. Of course not! Look, I'm not arguing with you about the Walkers in the barn." Tony ran a dirty hand down his face. His nose was killing him and his head was pounding with exhaustion. Once he found Olivia he was going back to bed. "I'm just saying, for the time being, I think it's smarter to stick it out with the group. Safety in numbers, right?"

"Not under Rick's leadership." Shane scoffed but seemed to accept Tony's answer. Maybe he believed it too.

Tony nodded stiffly and worked his jaw. "Listen. Take a walk, calm down. We'll talk about this later." He lied. Shane may be pissing him off, but Tony was willing to let it slide off as stress

Despite everything, Shane was still fuming. He wanted to shake Tony until he made him see. He was only trying to do right by the group. It was the fucking zombie apocalypse! They couldn't afford to tip toe around each other's feeling! They needed to do what they had to to survive. That's what he had done with Otis and that's what he had done ever since. Shane was taking care of risks the moment they arose but the group was still on fucking Rick's side. What was _wrong_ with them?

"Fine." Shane finally said. "Whatever. Your funeral." He turned and marched off back to Andrea and T-Dog, rubbing his chin angrily.

Tony just watched, annoyed and a little surprised. _What the hell just happened?_

He stared after Shane for a couple of minutes before taking in a calming breath and heading back to camp. Up to that point Shane had seemed like a good guy. A little hard-headed and quick to anger. But a good guy. Tony couldn't deny that all of his decisions had seem to been made with the group's best intentions at heart. In fact, Tony was behind those decisions. In desperate measures, they could use someone who placed his humanity aside. But he was slowly becoming less and less of a team player. Shane's first and foremost goals were survival—not caring how he had to do it. Rick, on the other hand, was more diplomatic about it—trying to maintain his morality.

Needless to say, Tony trusted Rick far more than he trusted Shane. He just needed to make sure that Liv felt the same way. It was hard to say with her. She had been right on board with Shane in going after the Walkers this morning. Her view was more black and white when it came to her morals than Tony. Things were either good or bad. No in-between. And Walkers were bad. Kill on sight no matter what the circumstances.

But maybe things were changing for her now. Tony had seen the guilt etched into her face as she watched Beth cling to her dead mother. He had seen that she was questioning herself. That maybe she was finally seeing the Walkers for what they once were—_human._ Tony couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. At least she was holding onto her humanity.

He was almost back to Tent City, hoping that his sister had found her way back when Lori came walking up to him, a worried look on her face.

"Hey, Lori." Tony greeted, a little surprised. She had never spoke to him alone before. He wasn't actually sure if she _could_ talk. She always seemed to be going around with a stick shoved up her ass. "Uh…is everything alright?" Between her and Shane he was beginning to feel like the most popular girl at the prom.

Lori stared at him hard, shifting her weight to one foot before finally looking down. Tony just raised an eyebrow. _What was going on with the people of this camp today?_

"No." She sighed. "Rick's gone uptown after Hershel and Beth has gone into shock. Is Olivia around? Maybe she can talk to Beth?"

Tony nearly groaned. This day just wouldn't end—he was going to go gray with all the stress. He turned and began the journey back to the tent Liv and him shared, hoping he'd find her there. "Rick went uptown?" He asked over his shoulder, Lori on his tail.

"Yeah. Hershel's missin' and Maggie reckons he's gone to the bar. Beth's nearly comatose with shock and she needs her dad…"

"So Rick went to bring him back." Tony paused. "Right. Okay. And you want Olivia in the mean time to try and talk to Beth."

Lori nodded. "I heard she was a counselor before all this went down. Thought she maybe be able to help Beth deal with her grief."

Tony wasn't so sure about that—after being witness to how Liv was dealing with her own grief. But she had shocked him when she had hugged him—helping _him_ cope. Maybe she could pull herself together for Beth.

Tony got to the tent and pulled up the flap, only to see it empty. Lori peered around him and frowned. "She said she was goin' on a walk earlier. Probably still wandering around. I'll see if I can find her and send her your way."

Lori reached out and gave Tony's forearm a gently squeeze. "Thank you, Tony." With that she turned and walk away, leaving Tony alone to his thoughts.

"What the hell is going on today?" He mumbled to himself before taking off in the direction Liv had gone in earlier.

First his nose was broken by presumed murderers. Then there were Walkers in the barn. Next, the conversation with Shane that had left Tony's head spinning. Now Olive Oyl? Tony wasn't sure why the universe had suddenly decided to combust but he was _exhausted._ And his nose hurt.

And where was Liv? She had been gone a couple of hours now… maybe she was off sitting around, kicking trees and punching flowers. It was certainty something she would do.

He walked around the perimeter and didn't see her. He even called out her name a few times. Olivia was nowhere to be seen and Tony was getting more than a little concerned. She had been in bad shape when they separated… but she wouldn't do anything… _stupid_… would she? No. Of course not. She wouldn't let herself be killed by Walkers. That would feel like giving up to her. And she had always been so damn competitive.

So where _was_ she?

* * *

Olivia watched the two men anxiously from her spot at the bar. _God, she was too drunk to deal with this right now._ They approached loudly; pushing chairs out of their way and letting their boots scuff angrily against the floor. Each step they took caused Olivia to flinch slightly in fear.

She was so screwed. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little bit smug at the purpling bruises they were sporting on their temples.

But luckily—so far—they hadn't paid her any mind. They had been more focused on the whole group rather than the individuals. Hopefully the fat one wouldn't recognize her. He had only seen her for a split second but… he had still _seen _her. Olivia remembered vividly his eyes before she smashed her bat into his head. So surprised. So cruel.

The smaller one let himself fall into the chair Olivia had been in moments before, taking the bottle _she_ had confiscated from Hershel and pouring it into _her_ used glass. The fatter one leaned over the bar closest and grabbed more glasses, handing them to his partner who promptly filled them.

"I'm Dave." The smaller one said. He was wearing a ratty tank top—the same clothes he had been wearing yesterday. He glanced around at everyone in the room. Olivia had shrunk slightly behind Hershel but Dave managed to make eye contact. He raised his eyebrows and sent her an appreciative wink. "Hey there, doll."

Olivia didn't say anything and just continued to stare at him—not wanting to appear weak to them. Especially because she knew they were rapists. The fatter one chuckled lightly and took a seat next to her, causing her skin to crawl in disgust. She could feel his gaze on her… _studying her._

But… _still_ they did not recognize her. She hoped, anyways.

"The scrawny looking douche bag over there is Tony." Dave picked up a glass and gestured to the man next to Olivia. God, how different her Tony and this one were.

"Eat me, Dave." Tony chuckled.

"Hey! Maybe someday I will." Dave said sardonically, sending another wink at Olivia who looked at him unamused. "Hmmm. Tough crowd." He sighed, setting down his drink. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was."

Olivia stared at him, trying to figure out what his game was. He was being surprisingly civil. And then she counted. _Oh, four against two._

Dave looked at Rick, gesturing for him to pass out the drinks he poured and Rick grudgingly obeyed.

"I'm Glenn." Glenn said, chuckling and sounding friendly. _Idiot. _"It's nice to meet some new people." He missed the glare Olivia was sending him.

"Rick Grimes." He continued to pass out the drinks, skipping Olivia and Hershel. This didn't go unnoticed by Dave.

"How about you, pal? Have one?"

Hershel shook his head—his body tense. "I just quit."

"You got a unique sense of timing, my friend." Dave laughed. "What about you, sweetheart? Have a drink. I'm buying."

Olivia tore her gaze from him and frowned at the counter her skin crawling with nervousness. She forced herself to calm down, taking a steady breath. She ahd to decide how to play this. If she acted too aloof, they would know something is up. Best to play it like the rest of the gang.

She looked back at Dave and gave a forced, quivering smile. "You're… a little late to the party." She gestured to her five empty bottles sitting on the bar. She surprised herself by not slurring. Amazing thing adrenaline was.

Tony gave out a whistle of appreciation and Dave smirked. "You're gonna make me drink alone, Sweetheart?"

Despite her fear, Olivia rolled her eyes at his flirtations and looked pointedly around at the other men. Hershel was sending her a concerned look and she smiled softly at him. "I think you'll be okay."

Dave leaned back in his seat—pouting. "Ahhh, too bad, sweet—y'know , I didn't quite catch your name."

"Olivia." She nearly whispered.

"Olivia!" He smiled, rolling her name on his tongue. "Lovely. Almost as lovely as you." When she scowled at him he just laughed and turned his attention back to Hershel who had shifted slightly in front of Olivia, slightly blocking his view. She reached out and clutched his shirt lightly, feeling comforted by his close presence. "You sure you don't want a drink, pal?"

"His name's Hershel." Rick answered instead. "He lost people today… a lot of them."

Tony and Dave looked at Hershel carefully. Dave looked down. "I'm truly sorry to hear that." Olivia had a hard time believing that. "To better days and new friends. And to our dead—may they be in a better place." He toasted and the men all took a drink.

Dave leaned over to put down his empty glass and Rick took notice of the gun he had stashed away in his belt. Dave saw where his attention was and smirked, pulling his gun out and showing it to them. "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."

Rick scoffed. "I'm a cop."

"This one was already dead." Dave said quickly, giving a light laugh. Olivia didn't believe him.

There was an awkward silence. Tony shifted his weight next to Olivia and poured another shot, pushing it lightly to her with a raised eyebrow. She took it cautiously, avoiding his gaze and took a small sip to please him. Her instincts were shouting at her to run—not liking the look he was giving her.

"You boys are a long way from Philadelphia." Rick said, finally sounding suspicious. Olivia needed to figure out how to tell him who these men were.

"We're a long way from anywhere!" Dave said cheerfully.

"Well, what drove you south?"

Dave scoffed jokingly. "Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather! I must have dropped 30 pounds in sweat alone down here."

"I wish." Tony jested, patting his stomach.

Olivia shifted her gaze to Rick, trying to will him to look her way.

Dave rubbed his temple and winced as he grazed his bruise. "No, first it was D.C. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing."

"One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony offered, shifting his gaze between Rick and Hershel. "Another about some kind of survivor camp holed up in one of those apocalypse shelters, apparently working on a cure."

Dave continued. "The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country—Kansas, Nebraska—"

"Nebraska?" Glenn asked quietly. Rick looked at Hershel but still avoided Olivia's intent gaze.

"Low population. Lots of guns." Tony said with humor, watching Glenn.

Glenn shrugged. "Kinda makes sense."

"Ever been to Nebraska, kid?" Dave questioned and Glenn shook his head. "There's a reason they call 'em flyover states." Dave and Tony shared a sarcastic laugh. "How about you guys?" He looked at Rick.

"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick answered, looking between Tony and Dave, successfully evading Olivia's meaningful look. She was beginning to think he was avoiding her. Maybe if she got out from behind Hershel….

Dave shook his head negatively. "Ahh, I hate to piss in your corn flakes, officer, but… um… we ran across a grunt who was station at Benning. He said the place was overrun with lamebrains."

Olivia snapped her attention to Dave and searched his face carefully. Both of these men were telling the truth… well, at least about their past… _why?_ And Benning was gone? Where was she supposed to look for Jared now?

Glenn was just as distraught. "Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?"

"Sadly, I am." He looked between them. "Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep."

"Or sneak up on you from behind." Tony said, rubbing the bruise on his forehead and smirking lightly at Olivia. Her blood felt like ice in her veins. _Did he… know?_

She had to find out. Forcing herself to stop herself from hyperventilating, she turned slowly to face him. Her hair was standing on end as she shot him a questioning look and mimicked him—gesturing to her own head. She was already in deep shit, might as well take her chances. "If you don't mind me asking… what happened to your heads? Y'all have matching bruises. Did you knock your heads together?" She finished with a stiff laugh, trying to seem casual and light-hearted.

"Cute." Dave chuckled sending her a smirk. "Actually, it's much more heroic and manly than that."

"I'm sure." Olivia said sarcastically. She turned her attention to look at Rick and finally was able to make eye contact. He was looking at her curiously. She raised her eyebrows subtly and looked slightly at Dave and then back at Rick. He paled, getting her hint.

"We were out scavenging for supplies when we someone attacked us from behind. Woke up in a closet a couple of hours later." Tony told them, maintaining eye contact with Olivia. "Can you believe… _some_ _people_? End of the world and they're turning on each other."

"Really?" Olivia bit her lip nervously. She was almost shaking in her seat. "Are you okay?"

Dave leaned back in his chair and sent her a smirk. "Nothin' a kiss won't fix."

She forced out a giggle, her throat feeling raw. "I'm not _that_ drunk."

Tony pushed her glass towards her again. "Well, then. By all means, drink up… _Olivia._"

Olivia looked at the others from her group and saw the suspicious looks Glenn and Hershel were giving her but she ignored them. As long as they didn't give anything away, they might be able to make their way out of this alive. But her alcohol riddled brain couldn't decide if Tony and Dave _knew _or not. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._

She shifted her gaze back to Dave who was giving her a small smile. They held each other's gaze for a couple minutes before he sat back suddenly. "So! It doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here… you holed up somewhere else?"

Rick looked down. So, these were the men who had attacked Olivia and Tony… Shit. Rick had to find someway to get his people out of here safely… and _not_ give away where their camp was. "…. Not really." He gave Dave a long, hard look.

Dave wasn't buying it. "Those your cars up front?" He threw a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the doors.

"Yeah." Glenn said, not completely understanding Olivia and Rick's behaviour, but going along with it. "Why?"

"We're living in ours." Dave answered, sending a withering look to Rick. "Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?"

Rick looked down, not sure how to explain.

"We're with a larger group." Hershel saved him. "Out scouting, thought we could use a drink."

"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit!" Dave said without humor. It was silent for a few moments. "Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is… is it safe?" He shifted his gaze between all of them. "Other than that… group that attacked us?"

"It can be, although I have killed a couple of Walkers around here." Glenn answered honestly, not sensing the danger they were in. Rick turned around, trying to give him a subtle glare.

"Walkers? That what you call them?" Dave chuckled.

"Or Rotters." Olivia offered, trying to continue giving the appearance of being witty and flirtatious. "Sometimes Geeks."

Dave gave her a coy smile. "Yeah? Cute. That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains."

"More succinct." Tony agreed, sending Olivia a wink that almost wiped the smile off of her face. She was absolutely terrified.

"Well, cat's outta the bag." Dave laughed, grinning at Tony. "Tony went to college. _Succinct._"

"C'mon! Two years." Tony defended, as if going to college was an insult.

It was silent and they looked at each other awkwardly. Dave and Rick continued to have a staring contest as they tried to figure each other out. Dave's grin fell. "So… so what? You guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development?"

"Trailer park or something?" Tony asked, sneering at Rick as he left his seat and crossed the room. "Farm?"

Olivia let out a breath as the bigger man left her side but her stomach continued to sink in fear. These men knew too much about the area. They _knew _Rick was lying.

"Old Macdonald had a farm." Dave began to sing, watching Tony cross the room. If Olivia was scared before she was absolutely filled with terror now. They _knew._ These men _knew_ where they were camped. Had they followed Olivia and Tony back yesterday? Oh god. "You got a farm?"

Rick met Dave's accusing glare and knew he was trapped. Off in the corner, Tony undid his fly and began pissing in the corner.

Dave tore his gaze off of Rick and rolled his eyes at his partner. He grabbed the empty bottle from his table and chucked in that direction. It shattered against the wood floor, shards scattering across the floor. "C'mon man! There's a lady present!"

Tony continued to do his thing before zipping up his fly and turning to look at Olivia who was staring determinedly at the ground. "Funny thing about the lady. Can't help feel we've met before." Olivia winced, closing her eyes and gripping her hands into fists. It was all she could do to keep herself from whimpering out in fear. _Fuck._ "Have we met before, _Olivia_?"

She took a calming breath to stop herself from shaking. She looked up calmly and sent him a small smile. "I think I'd remember you two if I met you before."

Tony let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. "I suppose so. Y'know, you're so pretty. When I look at you it's almost like the air is being _knocked out_ of my chest. With a bat or something."

At that, Olivia could feel Dave's accusing glare on her as he made the connection. She forced herself to arrange her features into a bashful expression. "Geez. Thank you. I bet you say that to all of the women."

"He does." Dave cut in, eyeing her carefully. He didn't seem completely sold on the idea of her being the one who knocked him out. _Thank god._ "So this farm… is it safe? You got food? Water?"

"You got any more cooze like that one?" Tony called from over in his corner, still sneering disgustingly at Olivia. "Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks." He grinned tauntingly at Olivia and grabbed his crotch.

She nearly gagged and looked away. Hershel stepped in front of her, blocking her from Tony and placed a protective hand on her arm, shooting a glare at the disgusting man.

Dave saw this and groaned, rubbing the bruise on his temple again. "Ah. Listen, pardon my friend. City kids, they ain't got no tact." He sent an apologetic grin at Olivia. "No disrespect."

She didn't know what to think. She didn't know who was in charge here—seemingly Dave. But she was at a loss. Did he or didn't he know she was? Tony seemed to… but Dave appeared doubtful. She prayed to god he was.

Dave swallowed hard, looking between Rick, Hershel, and Olivia before turning his attention to Glenn—who had appeared the most friendly and helpful. "So, listen, Glenn—"

"We've said enough." Rick interrupted firmly and Olivia winced. _Idiot!_

Dave tilted his head. "Well, hang on a second. This farm—it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?"

Tony leaned against the wall he had pissed on and smirked. "Yeah, real sweet."

"How about a little Southern Hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time." Olivia doubted that. "I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We could pool our resources! Our manpower!" _Yeah, and then take over the camp and kill them all._

Rick shook his head. "Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option." These strange men had attacked Olivia and Tony. Could have _killed _them. He wasn't going to let them anywhere near Hershel's farm.

Tony and Dave exchanged meaningful looks and Olivia's stomach sank. _Fuck._ The hole they were digging just kept getting deeper and deeper. Her hair was standing on end and she felt nauseous. She had never been so terrified. She was sure she was going to die.

"Doesn't sound like it would be a problem." Dave finally said, almost pouting. Olivia didn't miss the dangerous gleam in his eyes and she gulped nervously—her throat suddenly very dry.

Hershel gripped her arm tightly, sensing her distress. "I'm sorry." He said calmly. "We can't."

Rick nodded, shrugging to Dave. "We can't take in any more."

Dave shrugged before letting out a seemingly shaky laugh. "You guys are something else." He rubbed his bruise again, looking at Olivia meaningfully and this time she did let out a small whimper. _Fuck, fuck, fuck! _"I—I thought we were friends." He looked back to Rick. "We got people we gotta look out for too."

"We don't know anything about you." Rick skirted around the real reason even though Olivia was reasonably sure both parties were aware what they were dealing with.

"No, that's true." Dave agreed. "You don't know _anything_ about us." He said ominously. "You don't know what we had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself." He raised his eyebrows, looking at Olivia meaningfully—almost like he was apologizing. He was appealing to them but she didn't buy a word of it. "Am I right?"

Nobody said anything and Rick and Olivia just stared at him resentfully. "Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's—let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other… how's that sound Sweetheart?" He sent a charming smile at Olivia but she just looked at the ground. As far as she and Rick were concerned, Dave had just confessed all of his crimes—despite the truth in his words. His crimes were far greater than their own.

Rick sighed, looking down at the glass in his hands before holding out an arm in a half shrug. "That's not gonna happen." He smirked humorlessly.

"Rick—" Dave began again, trying to plead some more but Tony interrupted him.

"This is bullshit!" Tony complained.

"Calm down." Rick snapped at him.

"Don't tell me to calm down! Don't _ever _tell me to calm down!"

Glenn held up his hands in defense. "Whoa—"

"I'll shoot you three assholes in the head and take your damn farm! Then I'll take Olivia here fuck her like the bitch deserves. See how she enjoys it getting it from behind!"

Rick stood up menacingly, taking an angry step towards Tony. Hershel tried to push Olivia behind him some more but she pushed past him—her temper getting the better of her. She never stood for guys talking to her like that in the past and she wasn't about to start now.

"You fucking asshole—" She began—the fear completely gone, replaced with blind rage.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dave interrupted; holding out is hands to separate the angry parties. "Relax! Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Olivia?" He patted her arm and she shrugged it off furiously. He chuckled before turning and climbing up over the bar. "C'mon. We've forgiven you for your little… _transgression _yesterday, Olivia. You were in the woods alone. You were scared. We understand. So why not do us the same?'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us', right?"

"Wait, what?' Glenn asked frantically, looking between Olivia and Dave.

Tony was the one to answer, sending a hard glare at Olivia. "She's the little bitch who snuck up behind us yesterday. Gave us these shiners. You know, I almost didn't recognize you. But I'd remember those baby blue's anywhere. Got to be more careful next time you knock someone out with a _fucking bat!_"

"Tony!" Dave said sternly, shooting him a glare. "It's in the past, buddy!"

There was silence for a few moments and Dave fiddled with the beer bottles behind the counter. Glenn was giving Olivia and incredulous stare and Hershel was keeping a hard eye on Tony. Having enough, Rick finally took a menacing step towards him but Tony quickly clutched his gun, halting Rick in his steps.

Dave sighed and waved out a dismissive hand. "Look." He brought his own gun out and set it on the bar. Olivia couldn't figure out what he was playing at. "We're just friends having a drink, that's all." He waved out his hands to show he wasn't going to shoot. "Now! Where's the good stuff, huh?"

Olivia blinked, utterly confused by the man as he fiddled through the cupboards looking for the 'good stuff'. She didn't know whether to scared or angry. _What was he planning?_

Rick seemed to be thinking along the same lines. As Dave bent over to search the lower cabinets, he tripped the gun at his side. Quickly, Olivia copied him, clutching her glock.

Dave noticed but played it off. He grabbed a bottle of liquor and held it up with a smile. "Hey! Look at that! It'll work!" He chuckled to himself, pouring a glass. Then he let out a big sigh. "You gotta understand—we can't stay out there." He began pouring another glass. "You know what it's like."

Rick looked at him superiorly. "Yeah. We do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."

Olivia looked nervously between the two. For once in her life she was at a complete an utter loss of what to do.

"Keep looking." Dave said looking down with a sigh. He looked up with a scoff. "Where do you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know." Rick said, shaking his head sardonically, mimicking Dave. "I hear Nebraska's nice."

Dave let out a laugh. "Nebraska. This guy." He hesitated and then suddenly lunged for his gun, but Rick was too fast for him. Before Dave could even touch his gun, there was bullet hole through his head. Knocking him back and killing him instantly. Red blood spurting out of the wound and decorating the wall behind him. _Huh, red. _Olivia hadn't seen that colour of blood in a long time.

Before she could even put together a coherent thought, Rick had spun around and fired off two rounds into Tony's chest, knocking him back as he grasped frantically for his rifle. Gaping, Olivia could only watch in horror as Rick stepped forward, firing off the third and final shot into his end—killing him for good.

When Tony's corpse fell to the ground with a loud and final thud—Rick turned on his heel and headed back to behind the counter—making sure Dave was dead.

Olivia stood there, frozen, staring at Rick with horror. He had killed those men with no second thought. She had blinked at him and it was over.

She was quivering in shock and felt her gun drop numbly from her hands and it clattered to the ground with a loud metallic bang. The blood—Dave's blood—began dripping down the wall as Rick stood menacingly above him. Olivia's stomach suddenly lurched and she had to quickly bend over to the side and empty her stomach contents. Rick had just _murdered_ those men. He was a monster—there was no remorse in his eyes.

Hershel came over to side and put a comforting hand on the small of her back but she ignored him. Struggling to stand up straight, she kept a nervous eye on Rick—suddenly terrified of him. She felt sweaty and oddly feverish.

Who_ was _this man?

* * *

**Hey gang! **

**Sorry about the lack of Daryl in these last couple chappies... I can promise he'll be next chapter though.. at least I hope... **

**Anyway thanks for reading/reviewing/etc. Love you a super bunch... and I pray you make it though the apocolypse**

**-Delaney :)**


	18. When The Levee Breaks

**_When the Levee Breaks_**

_"Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,  
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,  
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move."__  
_

_-When the Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin _

* * *

**TONY**

As the light of the day faded into dusk it brought a feeling of dread along with it for Tony. He was normally a calm man but it had been hours since Olivia had disappeared and he was starting to panic. Had she gone outside the camp's perimeters? He had searched the Greene farm multiple times, even going as far as to search the bushes. Nothing. He had called out her name, went to Sophia's gravesite, and even checked out the barn. Liv was nowhere to be found. There was little else he could search so he decided to go back to the house to see if she turned up there.

If the world weren't shit—if there wasn't the ever-present threat of _fucking_ zombies—Tony wouldn't be worried. Liv had always been going off on benders—be that liquor or getting caught up with her man of the week (much to his displeasure). She was always disappearing doing this or that… but that was before the Rotters. And before she was emotionally traumatized. In other words, Tony was scared shitless for her. And annoyed. _Did she have to be so fuckin' selfish?_

He continued his way up towards the farmhouse—feeling a mixture of anger and fear. He was exhausted from his sleepless night. His nose continued to ache. His head felt like it was about to burst. And he had to try his hardest not to think of that little boy covered in blood. Tony didn't have the time to deal with those thoughts anymore. Not if he wanted to survive. But they just kept coming back like an annoying fly buzzing around the edge of his mind. The thoughts were always there.

Tony shook his head as he noticed Daryl's lonely tent. The hunter had moved his tent away from Tent City sometime after the funeral. Tony hadn't been surprised, he had seen how Daryl reacted to bad news both in Atlanta and the CDC. In fact, moving tents seemed pretty tame in retrospect.

During his search for Olivia, Tony had passed Daryl's tent multiple times. But Daryl was alone so he hadn't bothered the man. He had already had had to deal with Liv's catastrophic grief; he didn't want to deal with Daryl's more volatile reactions. But he figured it wouldn't hurt to ask—Tony was getting desperate.

He walked up to the tent and saw Daryl messing around with sticks, working to build a fire. Daryl glanced up at Tony and scowled, before turning back to poking at his fire. "Whatta you want?"

Tony was annoyed, but he chose to ignore the man's brash tone. "You seen Liv around?"

Daryl scoffed and angrily threw down his poker stick. "What hell is with this group and thinkin' I'm their babysitter? I'm done lookin' for people!"

Tony let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, asshole. I was just wondering if Liv passed by here at all. Haven't seen her all day and I'm a little worried. Just wanted to know if seen her is all. Yes or no question, but whatever."

Tony went to turn around but hesitated when he heard Daryl clear his throat awkwardly. Tony was expecting Daryl to stop him. He _knew_ Daryl cared about Liv. He mentally counted down, waiting for Daryl to say something. _Three. Two. One._

"She's… uh… she's been missin'… _all _day?" _And bingo._

Tony turned back to Daryl. "Yeah. She went on walk after the funeral and I haven't seen her since." He sighed. "Look, I'm not asking you to help look for. I just want to know if you've seen her at all."

Daryl looked down. "Ugh. No. She's not been 'round here."

"Fuck." Tony sighed, running his hands through his hair. His nose seemed to throb and he seemed to hear a faint ringing in his ears. "Where the _fuck_ is she?"

"Lori came by here earlier askin' me to go find Rick. Went into town or somethin'. Maybe Olivia went with him."

Tony blinked as he tried to keep the angry tears away. _She's probably back at the house, relax. _"No… no she's not. Lori came asking me if I could find Liv for her. She didn't go with Rick."

Daryl looked at Tony carefully and Tony could see the growing concern in his eyes. He kept forgetting how much Daryl actually cared underneath his rough exterior. "She wouldn't leave the farm by herself, would she?"

"Of course she wouldn't, she isn't stupid." Tony snapped, his stress getting the better of him. "You fuckin' insane?"

"Fuck off." Daryl snarled back, standing up and storming towards Tony. "I'm just tryin' to help."

"Yeah." Tony said after a moment. He held up his hands in defense and took a step back. "Sorry. I'm just stressed. I know you care about her too."

"_What_?" Daryl asked, taking a half step back and giving Tony a disbelieving look. "I don't _care_ about her! I don't _care_ 'bout no one in this damn camp!"

Tony peered at him. He couldn't believe he was about to have this conversation. It made him feel like a teenage girl gossiping about the boy she liked. "Sure. Keep tellin' yourself that, Dixon. I've seen you lookin' at her. And you don't care about anyone in the camp? You sure seemed to care for that little girl."

That seemed to irritate Daryl. He took an angry step towards Tony and shoved a finger in his face. "Don't fuckin' talk to me 'bout Sophia. I was the only one who seemed to care 'bout her. Now look where we are. I'm done with this group! More drama than a soap opera."

Tony raised his hands, annoyed with the man. He was just like Liv. Always defensive and violently reluctant to appear vulnerable. "Fine, whatever, man." He backed away, rubbing a tired hand across his face. _God, these last two days are going to give him grey hair. _His nose was hurting awful and he could a stress headache coming on. He paused and looked back at Daryl who was scowling. "For what it's worth, she cares about you too. She'll never admit it. But she does." Tony chuckled as he watched Daryl's heat up—a small bit of amusement.

"You don't know what you're talkin' 'bout." Daryl muttered turning away, heading back to his fire.

"You're probably right." Tony said, amused, before remembering the reason he was talking to Daryl in the first place. "I'm going to head back to the house, see if she's there. If you happen to see her, can you let her know I'm looking?"

Daryl seemed to remember Olivia was M.I.A and hesitated, biting his lip, seemingly making a decision. "Sure. Whatever."

Tony sighed, annoyed by Daryl's newly found apathy. "Thanks, bud. You're a real help."

He began to walk away before Daryl could reply but Tony could still hear him grumbling behind him. Tony was getting more pissed. Pissed at Olivia. Pissed at Daryl. Pissed at his _fucking_ nose. Pissed at how Olivia and Daryl were so defensive of their emotions.

As soon as he found Liv, he was going to _kill _her himself. She better be _fucking_ alive.

He continued to walk, trying to keep his breathing calm. He got up to the house and saw Andrea and Shane. They were headed in the same direction as him. Tony was hesitant on how Shane was going to react to him, recalling their last conversation. But his worries were for naught. As he approached them, Shane gave him a half-hearted—almost apologetic—wave.

"Hey guys." Tony greeted with a nod of his head. "You seen Liv around?"

"Nah." Shane shrugged. "Just got back from burning the Walkers. Haven't seen much of anyone."

Andrea looked at Tony and saw the disappointment in his face. "Is she missing? You said you were going to check up on her… that was _hours_ ago."

Tony sighed heavily as they walked up the porch and into the house. "Yeah. She wasn't there. Can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Did she go with Rick?" Shane questioned and Tony just shook his head.

"I'm sure she'll turn up." Andrea reassured him, patting him on the shoulder comfortingly before she and Shane went to wash up in the bathroom.

Tony continued to the dining room where he saw the rest of the group—sans Olivia. _Fuck me sideways._ He felt his blood freeze, and a cold sweat seeming to take over him. _Take deep breaths, Tony._

"Olivia's not—" He started to ask but his voice was shaky so he cleared his throat. "She's not here?"

Dale looked at him empathetically and walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, son. Haven't seen her all day."

"Don't touch me." Tony snapped angrily, flinching away from the older man. _It was happening again._ He felt his breathing become erratic and he had to keep blinking to stop himself from seeing the bloody boy and hearing his pleas for help. "Don't fucking touch me."

Dale's hand remained mid air and was shooting Tony a fearful look. T-Dog jumped to his feet and stood next to Dale, ready to jump in. "Whoa. Calm down man. It's not his fault your sister is missing."

Tony backed away from them—not hearing T-Dog's words. _This was how that day had started. Started with a missing comrade and ended in blood._ He concentrated on his heavy breathing, trying to avoid the reminder. That was the last thing Tony needed right now. He needed to focus on finding Liv. He needed to get a control of himself. _Remember what the therapist said. _He couldn't deal with an episode right now.

Dale seemed to sense something was wrong. "Tony? Are you okay?" Tony was hyperventilating. He felt dizzy. Dale seemed to sense this. "It's okay Tony. Your sister is tough." _They always were._ "She can take care of herself."

"Talk about something else." Tony pleaded through gritted teeth. He needed to stop being reminded of… _that_. "Talk about nothing."

Dale's mouth gaped open, confused. T-Dog jumped in. "Did I ever tell you what I did before this?"

"…No."

"I worked in shipping and receiving at this company."

"That why you're so ripped?"

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Probably. Worked there nine-to-five everyday. Pay wasn't great, but it paid that bills." Tony just nodded. "Went to church every Sunday. It was great. People there were like my family. So kind and accepting. We always had a great time."

T-Dog continued to babble about his life—random trivia—and Tony felt himself snapping back into the moment. He had almost lost control there—but he couldn't help it. Not when this whole situation reminded him of… _that_. Tony had been doing so well up until the CDC. He had had his PTSD under control. Now it was getting progressively worst. Everything seemed to remind him of…

"Thanks, man." Tony mumbled, cutting of his own thoughts. "That really helped."

The rest of the group was sending him concerned—with a little fear—looks at him. He shrugged it off, pulling out a seat next to Carl and placing his head in his hands. He felt exhausted. "Sorry for that." He mumbled, ashamed. "Just panicked. Really worried about Liv."

"It's okay." Dale said. "We understand."

"Sorry for snapping at you."

"Forget about it. It's alright."

Tony sighed as Andrea and Shane entered the room—oblivious to what had just happened. "They should have been back by now." Andrea commented as she took notice of Rick's absence.

T-Dog sent Tony a nervous look as he sat next to him, but Tony just kept to himself—ignoring the others.

"Yeah." Shane agreed with a sigh. "They're probably holed up somewhere. We'll head out first thing tomorrow morning."

The rest of the group gathered around the table and began to eat the dinner, the Greene's had graciously prepared. Tony ignored his food, keeping his head in his hands.

"Carl? I want you to keep your head up, okay?" Shane began, concerned for the boy. "Your old man is the toughest son of a bitch I know."

Patricia snapped at him for his language and he sent her a resentful look. "Sorry."

Carol placed some buns on the table and walked to the doorway. "Lori? Dinner."

"She's not in there." Patricia told her.

"Where is she?" The group got silent. Just what they needed. Another M.I.A.

Shane stopped chewing. "Carl, when's the last time you saw your mother?

Carl looked at him fearfully. "This afternoon."

"She was worried about Rick." Andrea supplied. "Asked me to look in on Carl."

"She stopped by our tent, too." Tony said, looking pale as he leaned back in his chair. "Wondering about Rick and Liv."

The group exchanged looks, drawing conclusions. "She went after them?" Dale finally asked. "Maybe she took Olivia with her?"

Andrea shook her head. "She didn't say that."

"Nobody panic." Shane said, rising to his feet and heading out the door—Tony quick to follow. "They've got to be around here somewhere."

The group quickly rose to their feet to go off looking.

Tony was furious. Liv's missing and they don't bat an eye. But Olive Oyl is and all hell breaks loose. _Well ain't that fucking fantastic._

But-Tony had to admit—at least they were finally doing something.

_God Olivia, where are you?_

* * *

**LIV**

"Holy shit." Olivia heard Glenn from somewhere behind her. With the help of Hershel she had managed to get to the bar. She was slumped forward with her pounding head on the counter. The room was spinning and she was concentrating on calming her stomach. Those men… were _dead. _Rick _murdered_ them. _God, she could still hear the blood dripping. _

"You all right?" Rick asked and Olivia tensed at the sound of his voice, lifting her head to turn around and stare nervously at him.

Glenn gave a hesitant nod. "Yeah."

Rick turned. "Hershel?"

The older man gave Rick a tired look and shifted his gaze to meet the haunted one of Olivia's. She looked liked a startled deer. Tiny and completely vulnerable. _Poor kid._ He shifted his gaze to look at the body next to him and then the blood streaking down the wall of the bar. Hershel honestly didn't know what to think. Maybe he was an idiot for letting these people on his land. They had ruined everything he had built.

Rick seemed to understand his silence and looked back to Glenn who gave a shaky nod. He turned to Olivia who stiffened under his gaze. "Olivia? Are you all right?"

Olivia opened her mouth to attempt an answer but all that came out was a pathetic squeak. Her blood was ice in her veins and she was completely and utterly terrified of the man in front of her. She had survived Atlanta and the CDC with him. She had befriended him. She had _trusted_ him. And he had killed two people without batting an eye.

Tony and Dave may have terrified her, but it was nothing compared to how Rick was scaring her now. She knew from right off the bat that Tony and Dave were no good. She _knew_ what kind of threat they possessed. But… _Rick?_ She had honestly believed him to be one of the best men she knew. He had been honest, kind, did what had to be done for the group _whilst_ maintaining his humanity…. But now? She didn't know. She didn't know who Rick Grimes was anymore. What did that say about the rest of them? What did that say about _her?_

Rick took a step towards her and she startled to her feet clumsily, knocking over the chair in the process. He stopped and held up his hands as if she was going to skitter away at the slightest of moments. Which was probably true.

"Olivia, it's okay. Calm down." He took another step to her and she backed into the counter. She let out a hysterical whimper and clutched at her side for her gun, but came up short. She had dropped it earlier. "Olivia, look at me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"She's in shock, Rick. Give her some time." Hershel finally said, stepping forward to grab Rick by the arm to pull him away.

Rick shrugged him off. "No, she needs to understand." He turned towards her again as she stood shaking. "It was either them or us, Olivia. He was reaching for his gun. They were going to _kill_ us. They were going to _rape_ you. I _had_ to do _something."_

Olivia clutched the counter behind her—her knuckles white. She swallowed, her throat dry. "J-just… _stay_ away from m-me."

Rick sent her a hurt look and went to walk over to her again, to make her _understand_, but Hershel grabbed him harshly by the arm again. He shook his head. "Let's head back. Olivia?"

She nodded slowly at Hershel. He was the only one she trusted at the moment. "I'm not d-driving with _h-him_." She shot a nervous glance at Rick again.

Rick looked between the two of them before sighing in defeat. He bent over to search Tony's body for supplies and Hershel and Glenn walked slowly over to Olivia.

"Olivia, sweetheart." She winced at the pet name Hershel used—Dave had called her that… and now he was _dead_. "It's okay. We need to get going now."

Biting her lip, she slowly released her grip from the counter and took a shaky step forward, feeling nauseous and lightheaded.

"We… uh… need to check… _him_ to see if he has any supplies." Glenn said nervously, nodding behind the counter. He went to make a move but Olivia held her arm out.

"I-I'll do it." She whispered, shivering anxiously. _Why was it so cold in here?_

Glenn sent her a pitying look that she instantly hated. "Olivia, you don't-." He began, but Olivia gave him a withering stare. She felt she owed the murdered man this much.

Avoiding the hands that reached out to help her, Olivia made her way around the counter and knelt down next to Dave's corpse, her jeans becoming saturated in his blood. Her cheeks became wet with tears. "I'm sorry." She whispered, taking his necklace from around his neck and putting it around her own. She hadn't been too fond of the guy. In fact, she had hated him. He had almost _killed_ her brother. But she hadn't wanted him _dead._ And now that weight was on her shoulders. So she would wear his necklace as a reminder of her humanity. Her burden. The apocalypse had ruined Rick. Or maybe it merely brought out what was already in him. She couldn't tell, and it terrified her. Maybe it would happen to her.

She was determined it wouldn't.

"Olivia." Hershel called from behind her, and she let out a shaky breath, grabbing Dave's gun and walking back to the older man's side. Hershel placed a comforting hand on the small of her back and for once she allowed herself the smallest bit of comfort. She stayed as far as possible from Rick as the made their way to the door.

They were almost at the door when lights from a vehicle splayed out across the bar. "Car!" Rick hissed out in warning. "Car! Get down."

Hershel moved his hand to Olivia's elbow and ushered her forward to the door, and pushed her to a sitting position below the window. She felt like she was in a daze. _When would this fucking day end?_

Rick stood standing next to the door, Hershel between him and Liv. They could hear the vehicle roll to a stop outside and the engine being killed. Rick brought his gun, ready to shoot, and looked at the others nervously. Olivia avoided his gaze and felt a wave of nausea come over her. _Of course, more people for Rick to murder._

Gravel crunched under approaching feet. "Dave? Tony?" A voice called out and Olivia's breath hitched. These were Dave and Tony's friends. _Oh god, oh god, oh god._ "They said over here?"

"Yeah." Another voice replied.

"I'm telling you man, I heard shots." Olivia winced as a third voice piped in. A hysterical laugh built up in her throat but she choked it down. Was this some kind of karma? Rick kills the men in cold blood and now they all were going die to because of it? Well, Rick deserved it. Maybe Olivia did too. She should have _done_ something.

She began to shiver violently and her chest was hurting—like she had been the one shot instead of Dave. Hershel felt her shaking next to him and sent her a worried look, wrapping an arm around her that went unnoticed. He could tell she was in shock—she needed to get back to the farm where it was safe. Where they could help her. But by the way things were going this night, he didn't know if that was ever going to happen.

He prayed with all his might that he would get to see his family again.

"I saw Roamers." The second voice warned. "Two streets over. Might be more around here."

"It's hot." The first man agreed. "We gotta get out of here."

"Dave! Tony!"

"Shut up! You want to attract 'em?" Just stick close. We're gonna find 'em."

The footsteps got closer—they were on the porch of the bar. Rick sank to the floor on his side of the door and Glenn sent him a scared look. Olivia continued to breathe erratically as she watched the shadows of the strangers move across the floor in front of her. _Fuck. _Would she see her brother again? _It's all Rick's fault._

The floor creaked behind them and Glenn turned to look at Hershel and Olivia. He saw the state Olivia was in and reached out a hand and grasped her arm lightly. He had never seen her like this.

"Dude, he said to stay close!" The second voice called out from behind them. Rick could see the man's shadow through the door clutching some kind of rifle. The shadows began to move away. They passed by Olivia's window and she whimpered. "Tony?"

Slowly, she turned her attention to Rick—scared about what he was going to do. Olivia met his gaze—_his cold, ruthless gaze—_and he sent her a nod. She shuddered away into Hershel's side. _He was a monster._

They sat in silence for a while—listening as the voices faded into nothing. Even then they waited. After what felt like hours, Rick stood up slowly—peering out the window—ensuring they were truly alone. He saw nothing. He slowly crouched and crept over to the rest of the group.

Hershel helped Olivia up and kept a hand on her as he felt her tense at Rick's proximity. Things were looking bad.

Glenn clutched his gun to his chest and glared at the window. "Why won't they leave?" He hissed.

"Would you?" Hershel whispered.

"We _can't_ sit here any longer." He looked between them all, trying desperately to make eye contact with Olivia. He couldn't have her afraid of him. _Couldn't she understand? He was doing what had to be done._ "Let's head out back and make a run to the car."

Glenn and Hershel nodded. It was as good as plan as any. They began to rise to their feet—pulling Olivia with them—but quickly backtracked when they heard the echoes of gunshots.

"Fuck." Olivia whimpered, bringing Dave's gun up, clutching the trigger fearfully.

"Shhhh." Rick quickly hushed her. He could _see_ the three men standing just outside—heavily armed.

"What happened?" One of them asked as the other two joined him.

"Roamers. I nailed 'em."

The third man nodded back towards the parking lot. "They disappeared, but their car's still here."

"I cleared those buildings. You guys get this one?"

"No."

"Me either."

"We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?"

Rick looked fearfully back at his group as the men begin to approach again. He needed to make a quick decision. _How could they get out of this alive?_ He brought his gun up shooting a look to Glenn.

As the men began to push open the door Glenn through his body in front of it in a desperate attempt. Olivia choked back a distressed cry in fear for him as he did this. She was so terrified she couldn't think straight. Tears were streaming down her face and her fingers trembled on the trigger.

What were they going to do? More importantly, what was _Rick _going to do? Olivia didn't want anyone to die. She just wanted to get back to Tony and then back as far away from Rick and the group as she possibly could.

"What?" The man swore, as the door wouldn't budge.

"Someone pushed it shut!" The other voice replied. "There's someone in there!"

"Yo! Is someone in there? Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble! We're just looking for our friends!"

"What do we do?"

"Bum rush the door?"

"No. We don't know how many are there. Just relax."

"We don't want any trouble! We're just looking for our friends!" Olivia let back a bitter laugh as she gazed at the bodies of their _friends_. She turned and glared at Rick. This was his fault. "If something happened, tell us! This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it."

Olivia continued to glare at Rick. Maybe Dave and Tony hadn't been the bad guys. Maybe she had picked the wrong group. The men outside were certainty sounded more sane and _good_ than Rick at that moment.

"You're bugging. I'm telling you, nobody's in there."

"Someone guard the door. If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."

As their footsteps faded away, Rick let out the breath he was holding and looked at the others. He met the glare of Olivia and knew he had to try. He needed to try for her. Show her he wasn't a murderer.

Besides, what other choice did he have?

He took a deep breath, clutching his gun. "They drew on us!" He called out in desperation, as Hershel closed his eyes in panic and Glenn swore. Olivia, on the other hand, was satisfied. At least he was facing his crimes.

The footsteps came back. "Dave and Tony in there? They alive?"

Olivia looked at Rick expectantly as he began to sweat. Finally, justice for his crimes. She hoped he burned in hell.

"No." Rick said finally and Olivia felt a cruel smile cross her face.

"Come on man, let's go."

"No, I'm not leaving." Olivia's smile fell. _Shit_. She wanted to make it out of this alive. "I'm not telling Jane. I'm not going to go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."

Olivia's breathing hitched again—realization was hitting her like a ton of bricks. Dave and Tony had been people, just like her. They had had lives. They had had jobs. Family. The Atlanta group and them were just two sides of the same coin. The only difference was perspective. This group had their own worries. Their own struggles. They—the Atlanta group and this new one—were all in the same boat; surviving the zombies. _Why were they fighting each other?_

"Your friends drew on us!" Rick shouted desperately. _Lie, _Olivia thought,_ Rick hadn't let them get that far. _"They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wished we didn't have to, but it's like that now! You know that!" Olivia's blood began to boil. _Who's he trying to convince? Them or himself? _She wanted to yell—scream at Rick. She wanted to beat him senselessly until he finally paid for his crimes—felt some _remorse_. But even she—in her state of fear and shock—could sense this was not the time. Not if she wanted to see Tony again.

Rick paused and looked at Glenn and Hershel, both breathing heavily and glancing fearfully at the door. "So let's just chalk this up to what it was—wrong place, wrong—"

Glass from the window came shattering down on them as the men fired their guns. Olivia screamed and grasped at Hershel—but she couldn't blame the men. She had wanted to shoot at Rick, too.

The glass continued to rain down on them as the men fired their guns. When at last the gunfire died down and Hershel wrapped an arm around Olivia, drawing her close in a protective measure. He clutched his gun and watched as Rick stood to his feet—firing off a couple of warning shots through the window.

Olivia moaned as the echoes of the gunshots rang through her ears. _Not again!_

"Get out of here! Go!" Rick ordered as the men began to shoot again. Glenn quickly jumped to his feet—turning to pull a helpless Olivia after him, and Hershel following closely after. They ran towards the back of the bar as Rick stayed behind—firing aimlessly out of the destroyed door.

Glenn shoved Olivia down behind the bar and she came face to face with Dave's corpse. She screamed. Bullets littered the walls behind them and broken glass—mirror and broken bottles—shattered around them. She felt her skin being sliced open but she felt no pain. All she saw was Dave. _Was he grinning?_ _No. Impossible. _The blood from his head wound had clotted and left a mess down his face—his hair thick with drying blood. She could _smell _it.

"Olivia?" Glenn frantically whispered, scooting up along side her—a large gun in his grasp. "You okay?"

"Huh?" She whispered—staring at Dave, his necklace feeling hot and heavy around her neck. "Y-yeah. I-I'm f-fine."

He nodded—listening for signs of the men—but it was silent. "Okay. Good." He watched as she continued to shake; trembling as she stared at the corpse. He grabbed her arm roughly, forcing her to look at him. She may be older than him, but in that moment she looked like a child. "Okay, Olivia. You need to _snap_ out of it!"

She shook—tears welling up in her eyes. "W-what? Snap out of w-what?"

The bar continued to remain silent. "I don't know!" He whispered sternly. "Whatever you call this state you're in! We don't have time for this!"

Olivia just blinked at him—barely comprehending his words.

"You're acting like a baby! Not the Olivia I know!" She shot him a confused look and he sighed, rubbing a sweaty hand across his filthy face. "Look, I know you're freaked out about… Rick. But now is not the time! He did what he did. Now move on! This is life or death, Olivia! We don't have time for babies!"

Olivia suddenly stiffened at his words. _Toughen up, girl. I ain't got time for sniveling babies._ Her father's words echoed in her ears. She looked around the room—finally _seeing _it. She felt ashamed. _What would her father think?_ God, how could she be so out of it? Glenn was right. She _was _a baby. What was wrong with her? She may have her problems with Rick—but she was putting them all at risk by being apathetic.

She was pathetic.

Glenn seemed to see the change in her disposition and sent her a small smile. "You back?"

"Yeah." She grumbled, gripping Dave's gun and shuffling with him to edge of the bar—peering around it. "Fuck me sideways."

"Maybe later." Glenn joked, relieved that she was—at least somewhat—back to normal. "Kinda busy right now."

She let out a shaky breath—trying to calm her racing heart. "Sorry about… _that._"

"It's all good. Happens to the best of us."

"And the worst." She muttered, staring nervously at Rick, clutching her gun tightly. He noticed her staring and looked at her hesitantly, giving her a small nod. She grimaced back.

Then they heard the sound of bottles breaking from the other end of the bar. They froze. Glenn looked at Rick before getting up and to go and check out the noise. Olivia quickly jumped to her feet and followed. She wasn't going to let him off _alone_. Especially now that she felt she had to make up for her behaviour.

Glenn slowly pushed open the door to the backroom and winced when a wooden step creaked under his weight. He slowly walked around the room—looking for the source of the room. Olivia followed quickly behind—making sure to have his back covered.

Glenn continued to creep through the dark room looking between the shelves. The dust was thick and nearly suffocating. Olivia peered around—hoping there was no one looming in the darkness.

Then she saw a figure through the back door. "Glenn." She whispered, bringing up her gun and pointing it at the poor—praying she wouldn't have to shoot. Glenn quickly joined her side and watched as the figure slowly turned the doorknob. He fired off a round into the door and the figure disappeared. Olivia didn't know whether to hope the strange man was dead or not.

"Glenn! Olivia!" They heard Rick yell from the other room. Olivia's breathing was heavy as she stared at the broken window—gun still raised.

"We—we're alright. We're alright!" Glenn called, turning away before creeping up beside the door he had just shot. Rick came crashing into the room and watched nervously as Glenn and Olivia waited beside the door—guns ready. He raised his own—halfway between the bar and the supply room—ready for attack from either side.

"You see anything?" Glenn whispered from his side of the door.

Olivia shook her head. "Nothing. I think you missed him."

"Fuck me sideways." He exhaled heavily. Sweat pouring down his brow. He was staring intently at the door—ready for any movement.

"Maybe later." Olivia muttered, trying to get a peek around the door, her own breath coming in painful to her chest. "Kinda busy right now."

He spared her a grimace before they both fell silent—waiting intently for any movement.

They both jumped when there were footsteps behind them. Glenn whirled around in panic—only to come face-to-face with Hershel. Olivia let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry!" Glenn said, lowering his weapon, letting out a deep breath. "Sorry."

Hershel merely glanced at him. "Rick wants you to try for the car." Hershel didn't know what to think about the plan. But, he guessed, this was their best shot.

"Try?" Glenn winced, picking up the doubt in Hershel's voice.

Hershel looked at him sternly then, thinking of his family. He _had _to get back to them. "You'll try and succeed. I'll cover you."

Glenn shook his head. How come he was always the one picked to go on the suicide missions? "Great plan."

"I'll do it." Olivia offered, keeping her eyes on what she could see out the door. She could sense Glenn didn't like the idea and she felt the need to redeem herself. She _knew_ she could do this. "I _can _do it."

Glenn groaned. There was only two modes with Olivia—useless or over the top. He could see how pale she still was. She looked shaky as a leaf. She _couldn't _do it. "No—no. I'll do it. It's what I'm good at. Just… cover me? I trust your shot. Please don't let me get shot."

Olivia nodded and followed him. He hesitated at the door before pushing it open with a loud creak. He paused, looking back at Hershel and Olivia who gave him a small smile. _Here goes nothing_.

Glenn took a few hesitant steps out the door and—upon seeing and hearing nothing—turned towards the parking lot. Olivia followed him out a ways and Hershel stayed at the top of the stairs. They looked around nervously for any signs of threat.

Then Olivia heard the gunshots and saw Glenn fall to the ground—protecting himself. Hershel took a shot and she heard the man grunt. She spun around and saw him lying spread eagle on the grass—screaming in pain. Her heart broke. _Not again._

She stared at the man desperately—torn between wanting to help him and killing him—giving him a fast death. He was probably attracting all the Rotters in the area.

"What happened?" Rick's voice came from behind her.

"He fired." Hershel said. "He must've hit Glenn. He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving!"

Olivia whipped around at that. She hadn't seen Glenn get shot. The man continued to groan in pain but she ignored him now. Glenn was more important. She made eye contact with Rick and nodded. She was further out. She would go check on him.

Rick crinkled his brows—unsure if he should let her. He couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt. He didn't have time to stop her, however, she was already next to the wall and inching towards the dumpster. He could only make sure he had her covered.

"Glenn?" Olivia whispered, nearing the dumpster, looking nervously ahead of her—ready for any threats. "Are you hit?" She was trusting Rick and Hershel to have her back. Glenn didn't reply and Olivia grew panicked. "Are you hit?" She hissed again.

"No." Came the frenzied response. "No!"

Olivia sighed in relief. She glanced behind her quickly. Rick wasn't far behind her and Hershel was still manning the door. She quickly leapt around the dumpster and sat beside Glenn. He looked like she felt.

"You okay?" She asked, feeling odd being the one helping him snap out of his shock now. "It's alright. The car's right there."

"Okay." He whispered despairingly. He was nearly hyperventilating.

"We're almost home." She comforted. "Almost home to Maggie." She prayed she was right in her assumptions of his feelings for the girl.

He closed his eyes and sighed—determination kicking in. He had to make it back to Maggie. He couldn't die on her. He couldn't do that to her. "I'm good." He said finally. He _needed _to get to that car. _Almost home_.

"Let's go." She whispered, sitting up to a crouch. Glenn didn't protest. He honestly didn't want to do this alone.

They slowly crept to their feet and made to make a dash to the car when bullets rained down on them again—forcing them back behind the dumpster.

"Shit!" Olivia groaned—leaning her head against the wall.

"You alright?" Rick asked frantically from behind them—wanting to make his way over to join them.

Glenn waved a hand. "We're good." He and Olivia peered around the corner to see what they were dealing with—a man, up on the roof across from them. Glenn raised his gun. "Should I? Or do you…" He trailed off—not liking the idea.

Olivia hesitated, biting her lip as she watched the man reload his gun. She didn't like this. That man was just as scared as she was. They were in the same place. Just different perspectives. _I can't do this. _She whimpered, remembering Rick shooting Dave.

A truck came screeching in front of the building the man was perched on—saving her from making a decision. "Come on! Roamers all over the place! Hurry up!" She heard the driver yell. "We gotta get outta here!"

Glenn and Olivia exchanged panicked looks. _Walkers now, too? _"Fuck me sideways." They grumbled together, watching the men.

"What about Sean?" The one on the roof called down.

"They shot him! We gotta go! Roamers are everywhere!"

"We're leaving?"

"Jump!"

Olivia turned to Glenn and placed a clammy hand on his sweaty one. "When they leave we have our chance."

Glenn nodded and they leaned forward—waiting to watch the truck drive away. Instead, they were met with a blood-curdling scream causing the both of them to wince.

Glenn shuddered next to her and gripped his gun tightly. "Dude didn't make it." The man continued to scream begging for help.

"He's alive." Olivia whispered, shivering as she crouched forward to watch. "Why isn't he helping?"

She watched in horror as the truck sped off—leaving the other man alone—screaming. Olivia froze—watching. Her mind was reeling.

"Now's our chance." Glenn said beside her.

She bit her lip and looked at him—pain filling her eyes. "We have to help him."

"What?" Glenn whispered frantically, trying to stop Olivia as she stood up, rushing to the corner and peering around the corner. She could see the familiar limping shapes of Rotters in the distance.

"Rick!" Olivia yelled, turning to face the man. "We need to help him!"

Rick gazed at her then looked at the others. Finally he gave a heavy nod. "Yeah. Let's go!" He ran forward to catch up with Olivia. "Glenn, get Hershel!"

Rick nodded to Olivia and she bit back her hatred of him for the moment. They took a glance around the corner before making a dash across the street towards the screaming man.

Olivia nearly puked when they got there. The man—actually, it was a kid—had impaled his leg on the spike of a fence. Blood was gushing out and dripping to the ground as he whimpered helplessly.

"Shhh." Rick hushed, walking up to the kid and assessing the situation. Ideally, they would need to cut the fence and get him to a hospital where they could take out the fence safely. But they didn't have time for that. Rick had no idea how to do this safely. "We're gonna help you but you _need _to quiet down!"

"W-w-what?" The kid whimpered, trying to sit up to look at them, but whimpering as he caught sight of his leg. "W-w-who are y-y-you?"

"Doesn't matter." Olivia said, trying to sound brave. "But we're here to help."

Hershel and Glenn came running up then and stopped when they saw the kid. Hershel knew then that the situation was hopeless—the Walkers were nearly upon them and he didn't have the equipment to get the kid out safely. He watched as Olivia soothed the kid and sighed. He hated to have to do this. "I'm sorry, son. But we have to go."

The kid sat up, crying desperately. "N-no! No! Don't leave me! Please!"

Olivia shot Hershel a dirty look and stood firmly next to the kid—she was damned if anyone else was going to die tonight.

Hershel looked at her desperately. "We have to go, Olivia. We can't help him."

"No! Please! You promised! You promised you'd help me! Please! Don't go!"

Olivia winced as he cried and looked at Rick pleadingly. He closed his eyes—having to make an impossible decision. He _couldn't_ be the bad buy Olivia thought he was.

"We can't." He said finally and Olivia turned back to the kid, satisfied.

"What?" Glenn protested desperately. "You're kidding, right? He was just shooting at us!"

"We were shooting at him!" Olivia snapped back.

Rick scowled in agreement. "He's a kid!"

"This place is crawling with Walkers!"

Olivia took a threatening step towards him. "We _can't _leave him, Glenn!"

Hershel was getting antsy; he grabbed the fence, trying to convince Olivia and Rick. "The fence went clean through! There's no we can get the leg through in one piece!"

"We have to try!" Olivia said desperately as Rick and Glenn shook at the fence causing the kid to scream out in pain.

"Shut up!" Rick snarled, bringing out his gun. "Shut up or I will shoot you!"

"That may be the answer." Hershel said, turning away.

Olivia scowled at them. "Oh yeah. Because that's your answer to everything, isn't it, Rick? Shoot anything that's potentially a threat. Shoot first. Ask questions later." She scoffed bitterly.

Rick opened his mouth angrily—getting sick of her judgments but Hershel ushered him off.

Olivia frowned and turned back to the kid. "Shhh. It's okay. It's going to be okay." She soothed as he continued to cry silently. "My name's Olivia, by the way. Wish we could have met under better circumstances. "She heard the others arguing behind her but ignored them; she focused on soothing the kid. "What's your name?"

"R-R-Randall." He whimpered quietly. "Please don't leave me."

"We won't Randall. We wouldn't do that."

"Why don't we just take off the leg?" Glenn said suddenly, snapping Olivia and Randall's attention to their conversation.

They all looked at Randall seriously. It was the best option.

"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asked Glenn.

Randall started shaking his head—whimpering. "No! N-no! Don't—don't! Don't cut my leg off—please!"

The men continued to ignore him so he turned his attention back to Olivia. "Please! Don't let them take my leg! Please! No!"

Olivia squeezed his good leg. "I'm sorry, Randall. I think it's the only option. Just try to calm down. I know you're scared."

He barely heard her—Hershel began discussing his plan on cutting off his leg—effectively scaring him shitless.

Rick leapt forward and held Randall down as Hershel got to work. "Olivia! Keep watch!" He ordered and Olivia stalked off gratefully. There was no way she was going to be able to watch that.

She walked to the edge of the street and instantly froze. Walkers. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. And approaching fast. They could still get to the car. If they left _now._ "Guys! Walkers!" Glenn was instantly by her side and they began shooting, effectively taking down a couple. But not nearly enough. "We need to hurry!"

Randall's screams began to be drowned out by the groaning of the Rotters. They were _everywhere_. _Oh god. Oh my fucking god. We need to _go!

"Hurry up!" Glenn screamed, shooting down Walkers desperately next to her. "We need to go! I'm almost out of ammo!"

Olivia kept firing and suddenly, nothing was coming out. Her blood froze and she began to panic. "I'm out!"

"I can't hold 'em off, Hershel! Do it now!" Rick shouted, shooting the Walkers at the other end of the path. They were being forced together—becoming overwhelmed by Walkers. Olivia quickly went beside Hershel—she was useless without bullets.

"C'mon Hershel. Do it now!" She urged, trembling as she watched the Walkers close in. "We need to go!"

"There's no time!" He shouted, screaming over Randall's own cries of pain.

Rick came over, looking at them quickly and coming to a decision. He pulled Hershel away, grabbed Randall's foot and _pulled. _The fence post ripped at the kid's muscles and causing blood to squirt everywhere—splattering on Olivia's face.

She wasn't sure who screamed louder—her or the kid.

_Fuck me sideways._

* * *

**Hey, gang! Sorry it's been so long! School and stuff. Ugh. **

**Anywho... made this chappy longer as a gift? An apology gift? Hopefully next one will be coming out sooner...**

**So, there hasn't been a lot of Daryl moments lately... I know I promised there would be more of him in this chapter... I honestly didn't think it was going to be so long... so here is a parting gift! A sneak peak of chapter 19!**

_Chapter 19:_

_"In her mind, Daryl and Rick were the exact opposite. Rick was someone who gave the pretence of being kind and honest—a leader guided by his morality. But she had seen him murder two men. He wasn't the man she thought she knew. _

_Daryl on the other hand, never lied about who he was. He never pretended to be a good guy. From day one he had been exactly who he was—Daryl Dixon. Temperamental, stubborn, honest Daryl. She knew his bad side just as she was beginning to know his good side. And that's exactly what she needed at that moment. Daryl fucking Dixon_

_She needed him, and lord did she want him."_

**-Delaney :)**


	19. That's The Way

**That's the Way**

_"And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers,  
But all that lives is born to die.  
And so I say to you that nothing really matters,  
And all you do is stand and cry."_

_-That's the Way, Led Zeppelin_

* * *

When Tony finally saw the familiar shape of Shane's car pull up in the driveway, he dashed forward, running to meet them as they got out. He was praying Liv would be with them. He had quickly become an inconsolable mess that night—snapping at the others, pacing angrily, and muttering to himself. He just wanted Liv to be back and safe with him—until then, nothing could comfort him.

But as the doors of the car opened, only Shane and Lori came out—not Olivia.

"Oh my god! Are you all right? What happened?" He heard Andrea asking Lori but he didn't care. She was alive and _there_ while Olivia wasn't. His heart was breaking and he could feel panic coming up in his throat.

"I was in an accident. I'm fine! I'm fine!" She protested as the others began to fuss over her.

Tony just stared. "Where's Olivia? Olivia wasn't with you? Why isn't she with you?" Shane looked down—refusing to meet his eyes, his arm still around Lori. "Shane. Where is she?"

"What? She's not here?" Lori asked cautiously, she looked at Andrea who was checking her wounds. "Where's Rick?" Shane walked away and Lori looked between them all desperately. "They're not back? Where are they?"

Shane stood off a bit, shaking his head before turning to look back at Lori. "Look, I had to get you back here."

"You didn't keep looking for my sister?" Tony snarled, making to lunge at the man, but T-Dog grabbed his arm—stopping him.

"You asshole." Lori hissed, marching angrily at him.

"Lori—"

"He's my husband!" She hissed, shoving his shoulders.

Shane let her take her anger out. "Lori! I will go after him! I will find him!" He grabbed her by her shoulders and set her aside. "Hey! Now look, first things first. I gotta—I gotta look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's all right, okay?"

The group fell silent. _What? A baby? _Tony thought numbly—his mind still primarily on Olivia. He was pissed beyond belief that Shane hadn't kept looking for her. He had no doubt in his mind that she had left the farm now—but why hadn't she _fucking_ told him?

"You're having a baby?" Carl asked, looking at Lori accusingly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

_Because she isn't sure who's it is. _Tony thought bitterly as he connected the dots—his distracted mind making the tension between Lori and Shane obvious. _Just what we fucking need—more drama._

He flung T-Dog's arm off of him and made a move to walking to the Caprice—intending to go find Liv himself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dale's intrusive voice stopped him.

"To go fuckin' find my sister." He snarled, turning back to the man. "Seein' as no one else is going to do it."

"Son, you're dead on your feet. How much sleep have you gotten in the past twenty four hours?" Dale reasoned. "You should get some shut-eye. You'll be no use the way you are. Besides, it's nighttime. They're probably holed up somewhere. You can go first thing in the morning."

Tony worked his jaw—he didn't like the idea of waiting any longer than he had too, but the old man had a point. He was exhausted and in pain. Sleep would do him good—if he could get it. And Liv could take care of herself—even the state she was in. She could make it one night.

He shoved his way back past the group—heading to his tent. He had some sleeping pills he could pop—he doubted he'd be able to sleep on his own. Especially nightmare free.

* * *

The next morning quickly had everyone up and preparing to go out searching. Tony was quick to join them.

Even with the pills, it was one of the longest nights Tony could remember. It was dreamless but he could feel the stress on his subconscious. He slept—but it was restless.

Along with Tony, Shane, and T-Dog were packing up the truck. Dale was off talking to Andrea. They were almost ready to leave.

Tony sighed, looking up and saw that Daryl was quickly making his way over to Tony and Shane—crossbow in tow.

"Olivia's still not back?" He muttered, looking around the camp with concern. Tony didn't even blink at the man's change in attitude. That's how Daryl was. One moment apparently apathetic, the next a fucking bleeding heart martyr.

"No." Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. He felt more rested—but no less stressed. "When we find her. _I'm_ going to kill her."

Daryl looked at him seriously for a moment before he realized Tony was joking. He let out a light laugh before taking out a swig out of his water bottle. "Guess I'm going to have to find 'er first then."

Tony glared at the man. _What did he mean by that?_ He wanted to argue but Andrea came over—interrupting his thoughts. "Guys." She called, handing out a bag of weapons.

Just as they began to pass them out, the sound of tires on gravel caught their attention. Tony's heart nearly burst with glee. Was Olivia back?

He quickly rushed to meet the approaching vehicle—the others trailing behind him. It drove up to the house and pulled to a stop—Lori and Carl there to meet it. Tony could see the figure of Rick get out of the driver seat.

They came up in front of the vehicle and Tony waited impatiently for Olivia to get out—she _had too. _There was nowhere else she could be. _Come on, Liv. _He watched as Rick hugged his wife—as Hershel got out of the passenger's side door and Glenn from the back. No Olivia.

He rushed over to the side of the car and finally saw her. She was in the back—a strange kid leaning on her shoulder. She was crying—her tears mixing with dirt and blood on her cheeks. Even then she was the most beautiful sight he had seen in a long time.

"Liv, you fucking bitch!" Tony laughed hysterically, feeling tears stream down his own cheeks. "Do you have any fucking idea how worried I've been?"

She didn't look at him. In fact, she barely acknowledged that she _heard_ him. His heart sank—something was wrong. _Who was the kid?_

"—Olivia?" He tried again hesitantly. He watched as she slowly moved the kid's head off of her shoulder and reached for the car door. She finally stepped out of the car and Tony was relieved—and furious. _Fucking finally._

And then he saw the blood. She was covered in it—nearly head to toe. There were scrapes all over her face and her clothes were so saturated in the stuff that it clung to her. Tony started hyperventilating and everything around him started to fade.

"I'll go in first. You cover me."

"Copy that. You sure Mike's in here?" Tony agreed.

"That's what the reports are saying."

"Just had to go off and be a fucking hero, didn't he?"

David—Tony's partner—merely shrugged. "He's new. He'll learn."

David was casual but there was a sense of dread coming over Tony. Why hadn't Mike returned yet? He knew there were rumors of this village hiding a enemy leader but Tony thought they were just that—rumors. So why wasn't Mike back yet?"

David knocked on the door and waited—no answer. "Look's like it's a B and E."

Tony nodded and followed as David kicked open the door and entered. It was quiet in the house—strangely quiet. The reports had been saying Private Mike had gone off alone into this house looking for the enemy leader. From what Tony could tell this was just a regular house—hell they even had family photos on the wall. So why was it so quiet? And where was Mike?

They got their answer as they entered the next room.

It was a dining room. Beautiful oak table, artsy paintings on the wall, matching furniture. A very nice room—if it wasn't for the bullet-laden corpses decorating the floor—their blood splattered across the walls.

It was a scene straight out of a horror scene. Tony gaped as he looked around—trying to decipher what happened. David was crouched over something—Mike's body Tony realized. He felt numb.

"Help me." He heard a voice whimper from next to him. Tony turned numbly—mostly out of reflex—to look. It was a boy maybe ten years old. He was deathly pale—a bullet hole in his stomach. He was covered in blood—nearly head to toe. His clothes were so saturated in the stuff that it clung to him. "Help me, please."

Tony blinked before quickly dropping his gun to crouch over the boy. He covered the boy's wounds with his hand—trying to staunch the bleeding—the boy cried out in pain. "I'm sorry!"

"Why?" The boy sobbed. "Why did he do this?"

"I-I-I don't—"

"We were just eating lunch." He whimpered. "We didn't do anything wrong."

Tony blinked back his tears. Had Mike come in guns-a-blazing without proper reason? Did he just _murder_ this family?

"Help me. I-i-it hurts." He was shuddering now and Tony knew he only had minutes left. He couldn't help the boy. "Why won't you help me?"

"Shhhh." Tony shushed, moving his hands to stoke the boy's hair—leaving a bloody trail down his face. "It's almost over. It won't hurt for much longer."

Tony and the boy sobbed together until finally the boy stopped shaking and was still—his last breath leaving his body. And even then Tony sobbed—clutching the body to his chest. He could hear gunfire start in the distance but he paid it no attention.

_Why won't you help me_?

* * *

Daryl hadn't really been paying attention. He was haphazardly watching the heartwarming reunion of the Grimes family when he heard the sobs. He followed the sounds and frowned in confusion at what he saw.

There was Tony—just standing there, _frozen_. _What's wrong with him? _And then Daryl saw the way his body was shaking—he was having another fucking flashback. _It's a roller coaster with these Bridges. _But what triggered it?

He walked slowly—hesitantly—towards Tony and then _saw._

There was Olivia (to his immense relief)—collapsed in the gravel, sobbing. She was covered in blood—almost like Carrie at the prom—and clutching the ground like it was a lifeline. Before he realized what he was doing, he was by her side, reaching out and bringing her to a sitting position. She didn't fight. She just moved as if a limp doll. It scared Daryl shitless. This wasn't Olivia. This wasn't Olivia at all.

"Oakley?" He tried, hoping the pet name would snap her out of it. "Olivia, are you hurt?" He was vaguely aware of the movement of the others around him—but he ignored them—eyes only for Olivia.

She continued to cry hysterically, her body shaking with the effort. Her limbs were cold and clammy in Daryl's. She was in shock. He didn't know how to deal with this. Warm them up? Or was that for hypothermia?

He brought her limp body to his chest—sitting fully on the ground next to her. He rubbed his hands up and her arms—mimicking her actions before—trying to calm her down. _Fuck he was no good at this._

"Olivia?" He tried again—no response. He was starting to panic—she was hyperventilating. _That wasn't good… was it? _"Olivia? C'mon, snap out of it." Nothing. "Olivia!" He was growing desperate. "Liv!"

She froze in his arms and he swore mentally to himself. _Seriously? That worked?_ He continued to rub her arms and waited—hoping that she would snap out of it now that her trembling was gone.

Olivia sat numbly in Daryl's arms—slowly realizing where she was. The whole night had been a blur. After Rick had pulled Randall off of the fence—sending muscle tissue and blood spurting everywhere—they had quickly driven out of town. Randall had _screamed_ the whole way. Blood-curdling. Haunting. Olivia had had to keep his wound bound tightly until they were able to stop and make a makeshift bandage. Randall had fought her. Swore at her. _Hated _her.

It had been a long night, needless to say, and she was traumatized. Never in her life had she been so scared—scared of Walkers, scared of dying, scared of other _humans_. There had been so much death last night—and mostly at the hands of a man she trusted. _Had_ trusted. A living, breathing, man. Out of all the evil that now walked the world, she never even considered the fact that it was living humans that would be the biggest threat. Walkers seemed tame. She didn't know how to react to it. So she hid. Disappeared inside herself until she could figure out _what the hell was happening_.

But the warmth on her arms and back were helping her come out of it. It was comforting. It was _safe._ After a couple of minutes she slowly tilted her head to look at who was holding her. Daryl. Daryl fucking Dixon.

He tilted his head down at her and met her haunted gaze. She looked so small. "Hey there, Liv. You okay?"

She didn't respond just closed her eyes and leaned back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her instinctively—keeping her close. It helped. She felt safe.

"Are you hurt?"

Olivia shook her head. "It's Randall's blood."

"Is that the kid in the backseat?" He murmured quietly. "Where'd you pick him up?" Olivia froze and he knew he asked the wrong thing. _Shit._ "No. Shhh. It's all right. I got you."

Olivia's mind quickly went over the events of that night and she winced. But then Glenn's words echoed in her mind. _She was being a baby again._ She breathed deeply and calmed herself. She was scared, sure, but this world wasn't made for scared babies anymore. She needed to _toughen _up. If Hershel could handle everything without blinking, so could she.

Slowly, Olivia sat up and turned to face Daryl. She mentally prepared to face a judging look. Of course Daryl would think she was being childish and weak. Why was he even helping her? He probably thought she was pathetic.

But when she met his gaze she was pleasantly surprised. He wasn't looking at her like she was weak. Nor was he looking at her with sympathy. He was just _looking_ at her—no expectations, no judgment. Olivia hadn't known that's what she wanted. She blinked.

In that moment, it became apparent Daryl was everything she needed. He was unsympathetic. He was unjudgmental. He was Daryl. He was _human_.

Daryl Dixon: a sum of good decisions and bad decisions that he never lied about. Daryl Dixon, who never pretended to be something he was not. He was just what Olivia needed. An honest _person_.

In her mind, Daryl and Rick were the exact opposite. Rick was someone who gave the pretense of being kind and honest—a leader guided by his morality. But she had seen him murder two men. He wasn't the man she thought. Daryl on the other hand, never lied about who he was. He_ never_ pretended to be a good guy. From day one he had been exactly who he was—Daryl. Temperamental, stubborn, _honest_ Daryl. She knew his bad side just as she was beginning to know his good side. And that's what she needed. And Lord did she want it too. She just wanted to _feel_ human again.

So she reached out and grasped the sides of his face with shaking hands and brought her lips to his in a rough kiss. His lips were chapped, the scruff of his beard tore at her skin, and the hand clutching her arm tightened painfully. Tears were still streaming out of her sore, swollen eyes and her head was pounding. It wasn't exactly the kiss she had imagined. But it was entirely Daryl. Honest, comforting, _human_.

And when she pulled back, a few seconds after the chaste kiss, she had to give him a small smile. He was frozen, his eyes wide in shock—almost fear—and he was tense, almost like she had attacked him. Which, in Daryl's case, he probably thought she did.

Olivia let out a watery chuckle at the look on his face—he was the one in shock now—and slowly looked around. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there—what the others were doing. _Where was Tony?_

She started with the truck—hesitantly—she really wasn't ready to face a hysterical Randall again—but he was gone. She assumed the others had gotten him out and Hershel was doing his Doctor thing. She kept looked around—where was everyone? She had expected a better welcome-home party than this.

And then she saw Tony. He was staring at her like she was a ghost. He was pale—shaking. She instantly knew. He was having a flashback. _God, how pathetic was she?_

She was there, crying like a baby, while her brother had some _serious_ problems. Olivia knew instantly that it was her fault. _Why hadn't she told anyone she was going with Hershel?_ Tony had probably been scared out of his mind searching for her. He was probably exhausted—stressed out—and there she comes waltzing in, covered in blood. She _knew _Tony had an aversion to blood—ever since he came back from overseas. At first he had been downright inconsolable at the sight of it but as years went by and he had therapy, he had been able to cope. But he probably wasn't prepared to see someone soaked in the stuff.

Acting on instinct, Olivia made a move to go over to him. She _had _to help him. She had been so selfish in her grief—only focusing on _her _pain, _her _problems, she never took the time to consider that the others were feeling the same as her. That Tony was. _She was so stupid._

Daryl's hands stopped her—they were still clutching her tightly. She frowned and scowled up at him—he remained frozen, which she had to smirk at. Even in her annoyance she still felt smug. She was able to kiss him comatose? _Still got it._

But Tony needed her. Olivia pried his hands away and she saw him blinking at her as she got unsteadily to her feet. That got him moving. He quickly jumped up and steadied her—an arm around her shoulders. Normally, she would have loved the feel of his well-muscled arm around her. But not now. She was only thinking of Tony.

With Daryl's help, she quickly made her way over to her brother. Andrea and T-Dog were there—trying to console him, but he wasn't hearing any of it. All he could see was the bloody Olivia—the bloody boy.

As she got within arm's reach she could see how scared Tony was. His eyes were wide in fear, he was shaking, his face a pale sheet. As she approached his arms raised out to her. "I'm sorry! I can't help you!"

Olivia winced and shoved herself away from Daryl. "Shhh. Tony. It's ok. It's me, Olivia."

Andrea and T-Dog got out of her way as she approached—she knew how to better deal with Tony than they did. As they moved, Tony quickly grabbed Olivia and collapsed onto the ground with her, pressing his hands to her abdomen as if staunching a wound. The others yelped in surprise, Daryl was crouching on the ground ready to pry Olivia away but she waved a hand.

"I'm so sorry!" He sobbed. "It's almost over! It won't hurt for much longer."

"Tony." She said calmly, putting a hand over his trembling ones. "It's okay Tony. You're in Georgia, remember? We're at Dr. Greene's farm. You're safe."

Tony blinked in confusion. How did the boy know his name?"

"It's okay, sweetie. You can let go. I'll be okay." Olivia started babbling—not sure what to say. She just focused on getting him in the moment. In the now. Tony slowly brought his hands away and stared—utterly confused. Olivia took it as a good sign. She didn't know what he was seeing—where his mind was. He had never talked about it—at least not to Liv. She could only guess.

"It's me, Tony. It's Liv. I know I'm covered in blood but it's not mine. I'm okay." She sat up, crouching as she grabbed his face in between her hands. He merely blinked at her, looking like a little boy. She was grasping at straws. What worked last time? _Oh God._ Olivia sent a nervous look at Daryl behind her (who looked completely at a loss) before clearing her throat. _Here goes nothing_. "She had dumps like a truck. Truck. Truck. Thighs like what. What? What? Baby move your butt. Butt. Butt." She began to sing, as the others looked at her in quiet confusion.

But it worked. As she continued her horrible rendition of the song, Tony's eyes crinkled up in confusion. Why was the boy _singing?_ The _Thong Song_? Liv always sang that… oh. Liv.

"O-O-Olivia?" He whimpered, hands moving to cover her own. "W-what—?"

"Shhh" She hushed, letting out a watery laugh of relief as she brought her brother into her chest, cradling him like a child. "It's okay, Tony. It's okay."

He let out a couple of heavy breaths—shaking off the image of the little boy. _God, he hadn't had an episode like that in years_. He felt ashamed. And Liv was here. Liv was alive. Liv was… covered in blood?

Tony sat up, prying his way out of her arms and looked at her. She was a mess—she looked small and frightened. Like someone had put out the fire in her. Very un-Olivia-like. Something bad had happened.

"Olivia." He said again, this time sternly (if a bit weakly), as he insepcted her face—looking for injuries. "You're back. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He ignored his own racing heart. He _needed_ to make sure she was okay.

"I'm fine." She told him, brushing his hand away. "Just exhausted, emotional, and a teensy bit hung over."

Tony froze. _Hung… over?_ He scowled. "Are you fucking kidding me, Olivia? Hung over? I've been losing my mind looking for you and you were out _drinking_? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Olivia frowned back at him. "A little more happened than just getting drunk, Tony. But yeah. I was. Hershel was going to go alone if I didn't go with him. I didn't have time to tell anyone, it was stupid, I know."

"You are so fucking selfish, you know that?" Tony raged, for a moment forgetting that Olivia was covered in blood. "God, what's _wrong _with you? Don't you ever _think_?"

Olivia froze, Tony hitting a nerve. "Look, calm down man, she didn't mean any harm. Look at her, she's terrified." She could hear Daryl defending her from behind her. She scowled—she could fight her own battles.

"I didn't think I was going to be out that fucking long, Tony! I thought we were going to have a couple of drinks and then pop back. But guess who showed up? Tony and Dave. You might remember them, they _did_ break your nose."

Tony froze—his breathing heavy as her words sunk in. "W-what? Tony and Dave? The guys who attacked us?"

Olivia scowled, pulling herself to her feet with the help of Daryl. "Yeah. Them. Look, I get I should have said something—told someone, but—"

"Are they the reason you're covered in-" Tony interrupted, deeply concerned.

"Huh? What?" Olivia looked down at herself. "No. No! This is Randall's blood." Tony didn't know who that was. "No. Tony and Dave are… dead." She finished off in a quiet voice.

"Well that's one less thing to worry about." Tony let out a sigh of relief but stopped at the look on her face. "…Isn't it?"

"You saw those guys again? Did they hurt you?" Daryl asked suddenly, coming out from behind Olivia to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She snapped, getting annoyed. "They didn't do anything! We just… talked."

"You_ talked_ to them?" Tony asked incredulously.

"What the hell did you talk to _them_ about?"

I don't know. About safe zones we could go to. Fort Benning is out." Olivia sighed, running a hand through her hair. She was _exhausted._ "Rick…. Rick killed them."

"What? Rick killed somebody?" Andrea asked from behind Tony, watching everything with concern.

Olivia nodded, the events of the night coming back to her and tears began to leak from her sore eyes again. Daryl saw this and put an arm around her, bringing her into his chest. Tony blinked at this. _Who the hell did Daryl think he was?_

"Yeah. Things got…. _tense _near the end. And he shot them."

Tony frowned. "Sorry, Liv, but… I'm failing to see how that's a bad thing."

She gaped at him. "W-what? Fail to see? He _killed _two people, Tony."

"Two people who nearly killed _us_. Or are you forgetting that? They were going to _rape you_, Liv. They were bad people."

"But they didn't deserve to die!"

Tony ran a hand down his face. He hadn't realized Liv could be so fucking naïve. "Look. I'm not trying to convince you what Rick did was right. I'm just trying to help you _cope_ with it. It's a dog eat dog world now, Liv. You're going to have to get used to that or…." He trailed off.

Olivia closed her eyes, his words sinking in. She leaned slightly into Daryl, subconsciously seeking comfort and she felt his thumb run over her shoulder.

She thought of Tony and David. She supposed she had been clearing them of their sins. They _had been_ bad men. They had terrified her—threatened her. She supposed, if Rick hadn't done anything, they would have found the farm. And then what? Maybe Rick had done what he had to. That didn't mean she could forgive and forget. But maybe she could tolerate.

"Okay." She nodded after a bit. "Okay. Sorry."

"Okay?" Tony asked comfortingly, eyeing Daryl up. "So why are you covered in blood."

Olivia sighed. "After Rick shot Tony and Dave, their buddies came around and shot at us. We managed to get out okay but… Randall. He had been up on the roof—being a sniper. Walkers were coming and he jumped off the roof to go of with his buddy… but he landed on a fence. Impaled his leg." She shuddered at the memory. "Rick ripped him off and we got the hell out of dodge. I was the one holding his wound." She gestured to herself and shrugged.

"Randall… he was one of the ones _shooting_ at you?" Daryl asked incredulously. "Why the hell did you save him? Y'all should have left him for Walker bait."

"He's just a kid, Daryl!" She pushed herself away from him to glare. "I wasn't about to let anyone else die. Not when there was something I could do. Besides, Rick was the one who saved him."

"He might be able to give us some answers about this other group." Tony pondered and Olivia scowled.

"That's not why I wanted to save him."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Course not." He straightened up and looked at her squarely. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine!"

"Good. Because I'm going to yell at you again."

Olivia had been getting very annoyed with him since their reunion and was ready for a fight. It would make her feel better. "Do your worst."

"Great." He cleared his throat. "I am very pissed at you! You can't just wander off without telling anyone. Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"I have a bit of an idea, yeah."

"Stop being a fucking smartass. You are _such_ a child. You've been on a self-destructive pattern for _years_ now and I haven't said a word. I thought 'maybe she just needs to get it out of her system'. 'She's a goddamn therapist, she knows what she's doing—."

"I'm not therapist!"

"—But no. You're a hypocrite. You can give out these inspirational messages—help out troubled kids. But you can't fucking help yourself. You just continue to go down this destructive road all because Dad didn't love you enough."

Olivia scowled. "That is _not _what this is about!" She could see T-Dog and Andrea slink off into the house—obviously not wanting to be around for the fight. But Daryl stuck around—for reasons she couldn't comprehend. He just stood back, watching.

"Isn't it? It all started in high school. Getting into fights, doing drugs, drinking alcohol, going to fucking Juvie. All to get his attention."

"Fuck off, Tony."

"No! I'm fucking pissed at you." He snarled, getting in her face. "He's dead now, Olivia. Who are you trying to impress? This shit you pull; it could be tolerated back when the world was normal. But now? You'll _die _if you continue like this. You need to use you fucking head. Think of others before you go off in one of your fucking self-pity parties."

"It wasn't like that, Tony!" She protested. "I saw Hershel getting into his truck to go off on his own. I didn't want to let him! What if something happened to him? I'd be the one to blame."

"So fucking tell someone!"

"He didn't give me a chance!"

He shook his head in disbelief at her. "So don't go with him. You go find someone and tell _them._ Then we could make a smart, safe, _plan_ to go get him."

"Oh. Because your plans always work out, don't they?"

"It's better than your suicidal impulsivity!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Get off your high horse, Tony. Don't act like you have problems. Can't even look at blood without freaking out." It was a low blow and she knew it. "You're just some crazy washed up war veteran." She regretted the words as soon as said them, but she was too angry to take them back.

"You know what? Fuck you. That was low, Olivia. You think I _want _this? You think I want to be constantly reminded of…" He trailed off. "I would do _anything_ to not have that day constantly replaying in my head. But I can't, can I?"

Olivia sighed, ashamed at her jab. She almost wanted to apologize but he continued.

"And look at you. What's your excuse? You're just another nobody. A fucking child stuck in a woman's body—you can't function if there isn't somebody there to take care of you and give you attention. Ever since we found Sophia it's been_ all _about you. I can't do _anything_ on my own without worrying what kind of mess you're going to get into.

And you know what? I may have my issues, but at least I have a good enough reason."

Olivia ground her teeth, pissed off at the truth of his words. She angrily shook her head. "You say _I_ have Daddy issues? You're the one who's never done _anything _that Dad didn't want. He wanted you to go to war—look who's a veteran now. He wanted you to be a mechanic—look who's an expert in cars!"

"I can't talk to you anymore." He said finally through gritted teeth. "Go wash up. Beth needs you." He ordered.

Olivia was furious—wanting to continue their fight but she had stop. "…What's wrong with Beth?"

He shrugged not looking at her.. "She's like comatose with shock or something. You're the most qualified to help her. Other than maybe Hershel, I guess."

Olivia frowned. "You really think I'm going to be able to help her?"

Tony shook his head meeting her gaze in a glare. "Honestly? No. I have no clue how you managed to cut it as a counselor before. I mean you can't even deal with your own issues, how could you help others with their's? But you're the best we got. So go."

Olivia frowned at his words. He was such a fucking asshole. But she listened. If there was one thing she learned today it was sometimes the needs of the group outweighed her own. She turned and began to storm off to the water pump.

"Liv. I _am_ glad you're okay." Tony called before she could disappear. She turned back to look at him. "But seriously? Fuck you."

Olivia just flipped him the bird and continued on her way. She was shaking with fury—even though everything he said had been spot on. She was just angry that he _was _right. Growing up, their Dad had never paid much attention to them. And Olivia had reacted by acting out—to no avail. So kept acting out—and then it became habit. She had so much anger towards the man—and that anger passed over to every aspect of her life.

Olivia had never been able to deal with it. It was the Bridges' tradition to deal with emotions by completely ignoring them or pushing them outwards. Olivia _knew_ she was messed up. She just didn't like others acknowledging it.

She reached the water pump by tent city and finally realized that Daryl had been following her the whole way. She was too caught up in her anger to notice. She scowled at him as she pumped some water into a bucket.

"What are you? My babysitter?" Daryl didn't answer, just stared at her, although he supposed she was right. Why had he followed her? He found it ironic that just a couple of hours before he was denying being the group's babysitter and yet here he was. "Are you not going to say anything?"

"Just wanted to make sure you're… okay." He offered, watching as she began scrubbing blood off of her arms. "Y'know after—"

"The screaming match? Don't worry about it. Tony and I fight all the time. Happens when you live together." She brushed it off with gritted teeth.

Daryl shifted his weight awkwardly. He was terrible at this. _Why did he follow her_? He glanced at her as she began to appear beneath the blood. Olivia had a way of making him do a lot of things he didn't know he was capable of. And now—he supposed with resentment—he was emotionally invested. _Her lips had been so damn soft._

"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly, ready for her to blow up in his face. "He seemed to really get to you? I mean after he mentioned your Dad—"

Olivia let out a sarcastic laugh, interrupting him. "You're really going to talk to me about Daddy issues, Dixon? You're the textbook definition of Daddy Issues." She straightened up, glaring at him.

Daryl gritted his teeth, she had hit a nerve. "You ain't know nothing 'bout it!" He snarled.

"Please. You have so much Daddy issues, I'm surprised you weren't a stripper." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Wait. Were you a stripper?"

Olivia could see Daryl was physically shaking, his face turning an angry red. She preferred him when he was blushing. She felt bad about what she said but she really shouldn't be accountable for what she said when she was angry—it just came spewing out.

"Okay, we both have issues." Daryl finally conceded, surprising Olivia. Daryl was always one to be trusted to fight back when angry. He wasn't one to deal with people using him as a verbal punching bag. "But don't snap at me, I'm just tryin' to help."

Olivia blinked in surprise at his restraint. "R-right. S-sorry." She was just as surprised as him when she began to unload her anxieties. "It's just everything—the whole apocalypse thing—is just kind of hitting me now. I said this to Hershel but I didn't realize how permanent this fucking thing was. I thought we just had to survive until someone found a cure—and then we would be home free. But then Sophia… and the night I just had… There's no going back from this. We're all going to die. Tony, me, Jared…"

Daryl just listened—he wasn't sure what to say, words were never his expertise. But he could listen.

"And I mean I _knew _the zombies were pretty fucking terrifying. They're walking corpses, what's not to be afraid of. But I never thought that I'd be more scared of people. Living, breathing people are the biggest threat! I can't understand it."

Daryl sighed, watching as she returned to scrubbing her hair. He didn't know how to comfort her. "I guess all the good people are gone."

She frowned, turning to look at him with a tearful expression. "So what exactly does that say about us?" Daryl didn't know what to say. "And I just feel so guilty! I was fucking _useless_ last night. I had to be led around like a baby! It was pathetic. I had a total mental shut down just because I couldn't grasp Rick killing people."

"And what does that say about me? I mean Rick's like this good guy cop. He survives the end of days while in a fucking coma, reunites with his family against the odds, and leads the rag-tag group of survivors with no second thought. 'We don't kill the living' he said. Well that's not what I saw last night. He was ruthless! I thought he was as good as he gets, and he still was able to kill. But me? I'm a _terrible _person. Am I going to be the one murdering people?"

Daryl just gaped—no idea how to reply. So he reached out and placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on her arm. She let out a watery sob and lightly placed her hand on top of his, slowly bringing her eyes up to meet his. "That's why I kissed you, y'know." She said, wondering if that was the real reason he had followed her. "I just wanted to feel human."

"O-oh." He stuttered. "Did it help?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." She laughed, remembering his shocked expression. "You're the exact opposite of Rick in my mind. I had Rick pinned as some kind of saint. But I had no expectations for you. You were bitching about some deer the first time I met you, for fuck's sake."

"Thanks?"

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "I meant it as a compliment. I can always expect you to be Daryl Dixon. Thanks for that."

Daryl coughed, drawing his hand away. This was getting too personal. "Rick was thinking about the safety of the group. When he, y'know…"

Olivia let out a long sigh. "I know. I guess I should go talk to him at some point."

"For what it's worth, I'm glad he did what he did. Those men threatened you… and your brother. I would have done the same thing." He told her seriously, not meeting her gaze.

Olivia blinked, touched by his caring attitude. She wasn't used to it from him. "Huh. And I thought you couldn't surprise me." She stood up, finally feeling clean. "Well, I'm going to go get a change of clothes. You gonna follow me there, too?" She joked offering a hand to help him to his feet.

"Depends." He grunted back. "You gonna try an' kiss me again?"

Olivia laughed genuinely. "Oh, Daryl, I wouldn't have to _try_" Daryl flushed at the truth of her words. She had him hook, line, and sinker. She turned to him and gave him a flirty look, placing a hand on his well-formed bicep. _Mmmm._ "Besides. I only give away one free kiss. If you want another one, it's all on you. I do _love _a take-charge man."

"Is that so?" He murmured, looking at her pouty, smirking lips through his eyelashes. He could do it now. Just lean down and—but no. He chickened out, backing away with a raised eyebrow. "We'll see about that."

Olivia giggled, but was disappointed. _So close._ "You'll be begging for me to kiss you again, Daryl Dixon, you can bet on it."

Daryl just walked away, a sad smile on his face. He already was.

* * *

Olivia was walking back to the farmhouse. She was exhausted—physically and mentally drained. But she had to help out. She was feeling useless and pathetic and she had to do what she could. The least she could do was try to help out Beth.

But as she approached the porch she was stopped by Rick. She nearly jumped out of her bones when she saw him but quickly remember that she had to talk to him. Had to _tolerate _him.

"H-h-hey Rick." She stuttered as he walked up to her.

"Olivia." He nodded back. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine." She nodded. "Look, I just wanted to apologize about… last night."

Rick sighed, looking at the ground. "Me too. I'm sorry I startled you." That was an understatement. "Would it help if I explained my actions?" Olivia just nodded. "I was thinking about the safety of the group—first and foremost. Those guys attacked you, I knew they couldn't be trusted. And then they kept asking questions about the farm. It's like they _knew._"

"I was wondering about that too, actually." Olivia agreed. "Maybe they managed to follow Tony and me back?"

Rick just shrugged. "Maybe. But, these people were a serious threat. I didn't know what else to do. I was thinkin' 'bout the group. My wife. My son. I did what I had to do to ensure their safety."

Olivia nodded, she may not like it but she could _tolerate _it. She was slowly starting to realize that's the type of world she lived in and she could either accept it or die. And she wasn't one to go down without a fight.

"I understand. I'm sorry about how I reacted."

"It happens to the best of us." Rick shrugged it off before offering his hand out to her. "We good?"

Olivia closed her eyes, wincing, before reaching out to grasp his hand firmly. "We're good."

Now there was only Tony to make amends with. But she knew she was already forgiven. It's how Tony was.

And she thanked God everyday for him.

* * *

**Hey y'all! Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reviewed! It's nice to hear from you (and it's a good motivator!). **

**Y'all are the chocolate chips to my cookie. I love you ;)**

**-Delaney :)**


	20. It's a Long Way to the Top

**It's A Long Way To The Top**

_"Ridin' down the highway, goin' to a show  
Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n' roll  
Gettin' robbed, gettin' stoned, gettin' beat up  
Broken boned, gettin' had, gettin' took  
I tell you folks it's harder than it looks"_

_-It's A Long Way to the Top, AC/DC_

* * *

Beth was looking in poor shape when Olivia checked in on her. She was lying in bed staring at the ceiling—nearly unblinking. It unnerved Olivia to look at, but she had to help. She was feeling completely useless and pathetic. So she had to do what she could—even if that was very little.

Maggie was there beside Beth, holding her hand and she smiled lightly as she saw Olivia in the door. "You were a therapist, right? Can ya help her?"

Olivia gave a half-hearted shrug. She was getting sick of correcting people on her job title. She crossed the room and pulled up a chair on the other side of Beth. "I was a Juvenile Probation Counselor. I mostly helped children who committed crimes. But I can try."

Maggie nodded hesitantly. "Thank you." She stood up. "I'm going to leave you to it, if you don't mind. I need a break... and to see if my Dad is done with that kid. He needs to be here." She looked back at Beth before giving Olivia another stiff nod and backed out of the room.

Olivia watched her go and then turned back to Beth and sighed. "Well, it's just you and me, Beth."

Beth, of course, didn't do anything. Olivia leaned over and looked at her for a couple of minutes—no clue how to go about helping her. She didn't know if Beth could even _hear_ her. Olivia grasped the blonde's hand and raised it over her face and let it go. Beth didn't let it hit her, though, letting it fall beside her instead.

"No brain damage." Olivia said to Beth. "That's good. Can you hear me?"

Beth didn't respond.

"Well, you know I used to work with troubled kids who would pull all kinds of stunts to get attention…" Olivia started, thinking fast. "Some would pull stunts just like this. One sure fire way of seeing if they were faking or not was this nifty little trick where you dip their hands in a bit of lukewarm water and then blow some air into their ears. They _immediately _start puking their guts out." Olivia lied and watched as Beth flinched slightly. _Good, she can hear me._ "I won't do that to you."

She sighed, leaning back in her chair and looking outside the window. "To be honest I'm not really good at this. I've only ever worked with juvenile delinquents. Y'know, kids who act out. I was able to do it because I was one of them once upon at time. Still am, actually. I _know _where they're at."

"You're different though. You seem like a good kid. I guess this is hitting you pretty hard, eh? The whole apocalypse and everything? You had a nice little fence protecting you before. It wasn't going to touch you."

Olivia looked at Beth, hoping to see some kind of reaction but got nothing. She sighed. "I understand that feeling. When I saw Sophia come out of that barn it all kind of hit me—I suppose you feel the same. I know it's got to be tough seeing your mom like that."

Beth winced slightly at that and Olivia knew she was getting to the problem. "But don't think of her like that. Think of what she was. The smiles she gave you, the hugs, the love." Olivia was drawing straws. Beth and Maggie seemed like well-rounded people. She could only assume their mother had been loving. "That's who she was, Beth. Not the Walker. The person. Think of her like that."

Olivia leaned forward, reaching out to put a hand on Beth's. "I know it seems pretty hopeless right now. How could things get better? But…" Olivia shook her head, not sure what to say. "I guess I'm going to quote the Doctor on this one."

Olivia took a deep breath, trying to remember the quote. "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things… The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.' In fact, I think the bad things make the good things so much better."

"You've got a family who loves you Beth… I don't think your sister has hardly left your side. Then there is Patricia… that Jimmy seems pretty fond of you… and your father. Not to mention a whole bunch of strangers who care about you. Me included. That seems like a bunch of good things to me. I wouldn't go letting the bad things spoil that."

Olivia frowned. She had no clue if she was helping Beth or not… but she was helping herself. This talking things out—talking about her _own_ feelings—was strangely therapeutic. _Who knew?_ "I'm going to give you some homework." _Therapists did that, right?_ "Every time you get sad… or things seem hopeless. I want you to think about the good things. Your sister. Your mom. Whatever makes—or made—you happy. You got to keep fighting for them."

Olivia leaned back in her chair—not knowing what else to say. She wasn't very good at one-sided conversations. And she had no idea if what she was saying was getting to Beth. Or even _working_. Beth was still frozen, staring at the ceiling. Olivia supposed maybe it was best to let her mull if over. Let her words sink in. Beth couldn't stay like this forever.

"I know siblings can be annoying as hell sometimes. Believe me I know." Olivia sighed, thinking of Tony. She supposed she was going to have to apologize. She had crossed a line in their fight. "But they'll always be there for you."

She stood up, rubbing her hands on her jeans. "I'm going to see if I can find your Dad." She walked to the door before pausing. "Think about what I said, okay? Don't get stuck on the bad things. Oh. And don't tell anyone about the whole _Doctor Who_ quote. I've got a rep to protect."

Olivia sighed, looking at Beth one last time, hoping for some kind of response—_anything_ to show that Olivia's words had sunk in. But nothing. Hershel could probably help her better.

She stopped in the hallway and sighed, banging her head against the wall. Exhaustion was hitting her hard—everything that had happened in the last couple of days weighing on her shoulders. She was shaky—still getting over her breakdown. But talking had helped—even if it didn't help Beth. But what was she supposed to say? Olivia could only say what would comfort _herself_. She had been in there nearly half an hour. _Something_ had to have sunk in.

Olivia continued down the hall and down the stairs; still worried she hadn't helped. She walked into the kitchen and saw the group all crammed around the table—tense looks on their faces. Rick was at the head of the table, leaning on the back of the chair—looking every bit as exhausted as Olivia felt. She was still a little weary about him, but she knew she was going to have to learn to live with it. Especially in this world. She sent him a weak smile as he looked at her.

Rick sighed, looking down at the chair. "We couldn't just leave him behind." He said finally. Olivia realized they were discussing Randall. She winced, walking over to stand next to Maggie who looked at Olivia questioningly. Olivia just shook her head. "He would've bled out, if he lived that long."

Olivia wondered why Rick would care about the kid but not the other men he killed. _He saved him because of me_.

"It's gotten bad in town." Glenn said, exchanging looks with Maggie.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked.

"We're not keeping him." Tony piped in, glaring at Olivia significantly. She rolled her eyes.

Hershel walked in then, wiping his hands dry. "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage." He told the group, nodding sadly at Olivia. "Won't be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick decided, looking at the group.

Olivia didn't like that very much. If she had her way, she would like to keep the kid. She felt guilty that his other group had ditched him. Guilty that Rick had killed two of his men. She felt they _owed _him. But she had a feeling she wasn't to get a say in the matter. She sighed as she noticed Daryl entering. He noticed her and raised an eyebrow and she just shrugged, looking away.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the Walkers?" Andrea asked, echoing Olivia's own turmoil.

"He'll have a fighting chance." Rick said.

Shane scowled. "You're just gonna let him go? He knows where we are."

Olivia shook her head. "He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's fine. He's not a threat." She didn't like the tone in Shane's voice. _What was he suggesting?_

"Not a threat?" Shane scoffed skeptically. "_How_ many of them were there? You killed three of their men, took one 'em for hostage—"

"Hostage? We saved his life! They left him for _dead!_ They're not going to come looking!" Olivia protested angrily.

Shane glanced at her. "Okay, but you still killed their men. But they ain't going to come lookin'?"

Rick put a hand down on the table angrily. "Liv's right! They left him. No one is looking!"

Shane raised a hand in defense. "Alright. Fine. We should still post a guard."

"He's out cold right now." Hershel interrupted, trying to divert the tension he could sense was building. He trusted Shane about as far as he could throw him. "Will be for hours."

"You know what?" Shane scoffed, staring to yell. "I'm going to go and get him some flowers and candy! Look at this, folks—we back in Fantasyland." He stood and stomped angrily out of the room.

"What the hell is your problem?" Olivia snarled at him but he just stepped around her. "He's just a kid!"

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did in my barn yet." Hershel followed after him, sternly. "Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all—this is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to life it. So do us both a favour—keep your mouth shut."

Shane looked at him, resentment in his eyes, before turning and stomping out. Olivia glared at him—she wasn't sure what to make of him anymore. She was glad Hershel had gave him a telling off—her plan was punching him. He could be such a jerk sometimes.

Rick turned to the other. "We're not going to do anything today. Let's just cool off." That worked for Olivia. She was planning on hibernating for the winter.

The group began to disperse and she sighed, making her way over to Tony—who had his arms crossed and was sending her a heated look. He worked his jaw before nodding to the door.

Olivia shrugged, turning and making her way out—not missing the awkward exchange between Carol and Daryl. _What was that?_

She got outside, watching the others wander off in all directions before turning to her brother—he just continued to walk in the directions of the tents. "We'll talk in the tent." He said gruffly, not even looking to see if she was following. "You're dead on your feet."

Olivia sighed—Tony was still pissed. God, she had been such an ass. She followed behind him—practically running to keep up with his giant steps—and mentally went over what she was going to say. She wasn't good at apologizing.

They reached their tent sooner than Olivia would have liked and Tony held open the flap with sarcastic flourish. Olivia just bowed her head and hurried in. Tony was secretly glad to see her like this—it was rare to see Liv remorseful. It was like Christmas.

Olivia sat on her sleeping bag and turned to look at Tony who had his arms crossed again. "Well?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Olivia looked down. "I'm-uhm—_I'mreallysorry_."

Tony lifted a mocking hand to his ear. "What was that? Didn't quite hear you."

Olivia glared at him but took a deep, calming breath. "I'm _sorry_. For… what I said. When, uh, I was… _angry_."

Tony smirked down at her, enjoying her torment before crouching down to sit next to her. He had to give her a break at some point. He stayed silent, encouraging her to continue.

"You were… right." Olivia gulped, the words choking in her throat. She never thought she would be admitting Tony was right about _anything_. "I should have told someone where I was going. Hershel wasn't giving me much time and I panicked. And I was hurting pretty bad. I wasn't thinking. It was stupid."

"Damn straight it was. I was losing my mind over here."

Olivia gave him a small watery smile. "I know. I'm sorry." She sighed. "I'm sorry about what I said about… blood. I didn't mean it. I just wanted to hurt you."

"I know." Tony sighed before swinging an arm over her shoulder, bringing Liv in for a rough hug. He had forgiven her a long time ago. "What brought this on? Not that I don't appreciate it, of course."

"Talking to Beth." Olivia said with a little laugh. "It helped me more than it helped her. I really am sorry, Tony. About everything." The nice thing about Tony was that he was quick to forgive—as long as you worked for it. He was all about teaching a lesson.

"I'm sorry, too, kid. I was a little harsh. I'm just glad you're okay." He shook his head sadly. "What a pair we make, eh? The suck-up and the hellion."

"Jared was the only one who got it right. I tried too hard to gain Dad's attention, you did everything you could to please him." Liv smirked; glad their fight was over. "And Jared just didn't give a damn about what Dad thought."

Tony laughed. "Yeah and now he's a _doctor_."

"Probably because he had such a good older brother taking care of him." Olivia laughed, thinking of how Tony had raised her more than her father had. Her smile fell—a thought had been plaguing her mind ever since Sophia walked out of that barn. "Do you think he's still alive, Tony?"

Tony stopped and turned to her, frowning. "Of course he is, Liv. He's a Bridges. We're made of some tough stuff."

Liv sighed and Tony's heart broke. She had been so sure of Jared being alive before. It hurt Tony to see her spirit breaking. They needed hope more than ever in this fucked up world. "Be realistic, Tony. What are the chances we're going to find him, let alone find him alive?"

Tony sighed, turning to grasp Liv by the shoulders and shook her slightly—getting her to meet his earnest eyes. "Liv. Jared's tough. And sharp as a whip. If anyone can survive this, it's him." He frowned, pulling her into a hug. "And we have to think of him alive until proven otherwise."

Olivia gave in, letting herself believe Tony—Jared had to be alive. He just _had _to.

"And we _will_ find him Olivia. I will rip this country apart until we do."

She smiled, turning her head and kissed his cheek. A silent appreciation for all that was Tony Bridges. She really didn't give him enough credit. Just like her he had wanted Dad's attention. But he did it by trying to be the perfect son—doing everything their Dad had told him. He had _idolized_ their father.

That left a huge weight on his shoulders_. _He was always the one left to take care of his younger siblings. He even had to take care of grocery shopping and sometimes bill paying when their old man got in too deep on a Miller Time shift. Tony was forced to be an adult long before he should have. And he never complained. He dealt with all of Liv and Jared's shit without asking for anything back in return.

Liv figured now was as good time as any to repay him. She pulled away and looked at him—he was pale and shaky, his flashback leaving him exhausted. "Tony… I think you need to talk about… you, um, PTSD. It's been getting worse, hasn't it?"

"Why should I? I've talked about it enough with my therapist." Tony frowned and turned away, trying to avoid the conversation. "I can handle it."

"But you don't have to alone, Tony. I just want to help, Tony. I _know _you can handle it. You've been handling it for years now… but it's coming back. It'll help to talk to someone." She sighed. "You don't have to talk to _me_ about it… but talk to _someone_." He made noncommittal grimace and she groaned. "C'mon. You know avoiding the thoughts are what keeps them reoccurring. _You're_ making them into something to be feared. "

He groaned. "How did this conversation turn into being about me?"

Olivia chuckled. "Listen. Let's make deal. I'll try to stop being so selfish and impulsive and _stupid _if you promise to talk to someone—get some help."

Tony sighed, eyeing her up, before giving in. "Fine. Deal." He opened his arms. "Hug it out?"

"You're such a teddy bear." Olivia chuckled softly, hugging Tony tightly to her. They may have their fights, but she would never stop loving him. He was all she had left.

"Shappup." He roughly mussed her hair before pulling away again and crouching his way out of the tent. He paused as a thought crossed his mind—he needed to know what was going on with Daryl and her. "Now get some sleep. I got to go have a talk with Dixon."

Olivia settled down in her sleeping back and blinked up at him in confusion. "Daryl? Why?"

Tony frowned. "For one, you're calling him by his first name." Liv rolled her eyes. "And don't think I haven't noticed how close you guys were earlier. Mind telling me what's going on between you two? Or do I have to beat it out of Dixon?"

Olivia groaned, flopping back onto the ground and staring up at the sloping ceiling of the tent. "Nothing is going on." She bent the truth. "I don't know why you keep on insisting that there is." She thought about her earlier flirtations with the hunter and nearly groaned. Sure, she had kissed him. But that wasn't romantic for her. It was just to feel human.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the googly eyes you keep shooting each other? Or… hmmm… I don't know. He was _hugging_ you. What happened when he followed you?"

Liv groaned, shutting her eyes tightly. "You sound like a preteen."

"I'm your big brother." Tony grumbled back. He knew he sounded like a whiny teenager—but he didn't like the idea of his sister with some guy. He and Jared were the only guys she needed in her life. "It's my job."

"To gossip?" Liv peeked at him through one eye, a smirk on her chapped lips. He didn't say anything, just glared. She sighed. "I like him ok? I like his no-nonsense attitude, his determination, his survival skills—not to mention those arms of his. I _like_ him, okay? But nothing's going to happen."

"You sure of that?" He grumbled, feeling a mixture of emotions. He was happy that Olivia was finally admitting her feelings and opening up to him, but at the same time, she _liked_ Dixon. Ugh.

"Positive. For one, we've barely talked, I barely know the guy. It's mostly physical attraction." She sighed, thinking of how Daryl had walked away from the opportunity she gave him. "And besides, it's not the best idea to get attached to people nowadays. Sophia is a prime example of that."

"Oh, Liv." Tony sighed—shifting his weight at the entrance of the tent. "Liv, You can't think like that. As much as I like you not getting close to Dixon—or any man, really—you can't close yourself off."

Liv sighed, not wanting to have another heart-to-heart. She was exhausted. She just wanted to sleep for ten years. "Okay. Fine. Is it cool if I sleep now? Go yell at Dixon if you want. Just let me sleep."

Tony chuckled. "I might just do that." He didn't need to. He already knew Daryl liked his sister. He just had to make sure neither of them did anything about those feelings. "Nighty night."

He chuckled as Liv waved a middle finger at him and he ducked out of the tent. It had been a rough couple of days but he was just glad Liv was back—and for the time being—safe.

* * *

The next day found Liv waiting for something to do. The others were all doing some sort of task or other-but refused to let her help. They just looked at her as if she was about to explode.

Randall was healing-feverish and in pain. But healing. Hershel had just fixed his leg yesterday and already there was talk about dumping him off somewhere.—something that she thought was idiotic. He was just a kid—why couldn't he stay with them? Why were they sending him out so soon? He would just wind up dead. Liv didn't like that. She was sick of people dying.

She knew she couldn't ask them to keep Randall when the whole group seemed dead set against it. All she could do was hope Rick and Shane left him in a good spot—a place where he had a chance for survival.

She sighed, taking a sip of the watery coffee T-Dog had brewed and looked out down the drive way again. Olivia had woken up a while ago—feeling refreshed and more herself. Yesterday seemed like a nightmare. She couldn't believe how distraught she had been. She had always thought of herself as tough. Liv was scared she didn't know herself as well as she thought.

She was restless. She didn't know exactly what she was waiting around for—maybe for them to change their mind. But it was driving her crazy staring at the gravel road—she needed to do something.

Olivia stood up and walked determinedly back into the house. Maggie and Lori were gathered around the island, prepping lunch. Olivia had awkwardly offered to help but they had denied her—she wasn't exactly great at the more domestic tasks. "Thanks for the mug." She said, walking over to the sink and washing out her cup.

"Not a problem." Maggie answered, pausing from chopping tomatoes. "Beth's awake now."

"We're going to bring her up lunch, maybe go for a walk later. It'll do her some good." Lori added.

"Don't take her anywhere near the barn. I don't think she's ready for that." Olivia advised, nodding. "I'm going to do a lap of the perimeter. I feel useless waiting around." She began to make her exit but paused. "If you want, I can talk to Beth again. See what I can do."

Maggie nodded. "Thank you. I think you helped her yesterday."

Olivia shrugged uncertainty—she was doubtful about that. "I'll be around."

She pushed her way out of the house and grabbed her glock she had left on the porch. With a final glance at the gravel road she set off in the opposite directions—towards the barn. She passed a shed and grabbed a hammer—in case any fence boards needed work.

The bodies of the Walkers had all been cleaned up around the barn but Liv still couldn't erase the picture of Sophia come shuffling out of the barn. It burned like a white-hot iron brand in her mind. Sophia was too young.

Liv sighed, passing the barn and heading off into the woods behind. It was a couple of minutes walk to the edge of Hershel's land. She relished the alone time and the sense of peace that came with no Rotters being around. She hadn't realized how much she had missed just going on a simple walk.

Olivia stretched out her arms, a small smile on her face, feeling some peace after the last couple of days. She was starting to come to terms with everything. She knew if she didn't cope fast this world would eat her alive—literally.

She thought of Rick as she came up to the fence and began following it—checking to make sure it was still secure. She considered what he had done. Like Tony said—she needed to tolerate his actions. In this world, she supposed, she needed to adapt. In this world it was eat or be eaten. The group came first. And—she supposed—Tony and Dave had been bad news. In retrospect she could see that there was no other outcome. Rick had done what he had to do—for the best of the group. Murder was wrong—Olivia still believed that, and that was what Rick had done. He had murdered Tony and Dave, but he didn't have any other choice. Olivia may not like it but she had to accept it.

She sighed—shaking off the dark thoughts crossing her mind. "Snap out of it, Liv. Move on."

She stopped to test out the strength of a board that looked weak before moving on out of the woods and into an open field. She continued on for a couple of minutes before she caught glimpse of a figure staggering in the field in the distance. She squinted—blinded by the sun. Was that a person? Or a Walker? She supposed they were the same thing,

She walked further along the fence—trying to determine if it was a living person or not. "Hey!" She called out. "Hey, you!"

The figure staggered—from what Olivia could make out—and began stumbling towards her. _Shit. Walker. _She reached for her glock but stopped—the gunshot would attract more Walkers from miles around—especially in a field like this.

Liv looked around and considered jumping the fence to go take care of it but stopped. Tony would kill her if she left the camp again without telling anyone. And she didn't know what else was out there—hiding in the long grass. But she couldn't leave the Rotter either.

"Fuck." She grumbled, gripping the hammer in her hand. "Hey! Come on over here, ugly!" She yelled again—baiting the Walker. She continued to holler at it until she was able to clearly make it out.

She almost didn't believe it was a Walker—if not for the groaning and sallow skin. He must have just turned recently. She couldn't see any signs of what had killed him. Olivia frowned, raising her hammer preparing for when it came up to the fence but froze when she saw he had a nametag pinned to his raggedy red shirt. _Alex_. Her heart beat was suddenly loud in her ears and she felt her hand shaking. _Alex_. He had a name. He was a person.

He had a life. Maybe a wife and kids. _Nah, he's about sixteen_. Liv closed her eyes, giving herself a pep talk. _He's a Walker now._ Alex was gone. She opened her eyes and gripped the hammer with determination.

Alex—no—the _Walker_ came stumbling up to the fence and snarled, leaning across the boards blindly grasping at air in an attempt to get his next meal. He was dirty and was only showing the first signs of decay. He had been a handsome kid and Olivia's heart broke. _Fuck this world._

Anger rose in her chest and she gritted her teeth—bringing the hammer up and slamming it down into the Walker's head. His head wasn't that rotten yet and didn't splatter out like Liv was used to. She got more pissed. She pried the hammer from his broken skull as he twitched about and swung again. And again. And again. She felt manic. The Walker had finally stopped twitching but she kept smashing away at his brains. Blood splattered everywhere—the grass, the fence boards, Liv's arms, Liv's face. She didn't care. She was too angry. She just kept brutally chipping and chipping away at his spine.

Eventually she got tired and her anger turned into hysteric sobs. She looked at the mangled body. All that remained was a lower torso. The rest was scattered around her in bits and pieces of blood, bones, and brains.

She collapsed into the blood soaked ground—letting out hysteric sobs. It was okay to cry now. She was alone. So she cried.

She cried for the end of the world—the loss of lives. The monsters it was turning people into—both alive and dead. Olivia mourned all that she had once taken advantage of—never knowing how much she would miss it. She cried for Alex. For Sophia. For Tony and Dave. For Jared. For the person Rick had been and for the person he was becoming.

She cried for herself because she knew that these were the last moments she would allow herself be the old Liv. No longer would she be naïve. No longer would she let her emotions control her. She was going to close off her heart—harden up. Because if she didn't—she wouldn't survive. If she stayed the same, Olivia knew she was going to die. The way she was, she couldn't handle another heartbreak like Sophia.

She needed to harden her heart. There was going to be more losses. She was going to see the deaths of more friends—maybe even her brother. That's the way things were now. She could either mourn the way things had been—pine over the life she had had—or she could accept this was now the world she lived in and move on. The world couldn't go back to the way it was. They—humans—had gone to far for that. Things were never going to be the same again.

* * *

**Hey campers! Sorry it's been a while since the last chapter... I want to blame it on midterms... but yeah... mostly procrastination... And because not a lot happens in this chapter-except some personal growth for Liv (yay?)... that's great and all... but just had zero motivation to write haha. My bad... **

**Next chappy should be more exciting... as you may very well know from watching the show ;)**

**Want to give a huge shout out to those reading! I wish to give you all a big hug-unless, of course, you don't like being touched. If that's the case I shall nod earnestly at you from a respectful distance that you shall set. **

**And I'm glad y'all seem to like Liv! And more importantly Tony! It's ridiculous how much time I spend daydreaming about how to make them seem realistic (ish)... so it's nice to know I'm at least hitting the dartboard on that topic. **

**Hopefully I'll get the next one out sooner rather than later (Please be kind, future Delaney!)... Thanks for reading!**

**\- Delaney :)**


	21. Moral Development

**MORAL DEVELOPMENT**

* * *

Tony dabbed at his stinging fist. His knuckles were swollen and cracked—blood leaking out of the irritated flesh. He had hit Randall too hard. Repeatedly. But the kid had refused to talk and Rick needed answers. That, and the fact that Tony thought the kid was a piece of shit.

Randall knew Maggie. He knew where the farm was. He was a danger to all of them—and from what he had just heard the kid say… Well, Tony figured they should just put Randall to sleep—he was too big of risk. He didn't like the idea of killing a kid, but he didn't see any other choice. It was for the best of the group. He just had to justify that to Liv. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

Liv had been oddly… _reserved_ this week. So much so that Tony was worried. At first he had thought she was just recovering from her traumatic night. But she had kept it up all week. She hardly smiled, she had a new no-nonsense attitude, and—most of all—she was avoiding the others. She would talk to them but no more than she had to. Liv was even avoiding Dixon—something Tony found shocking. She had just admitted to _liking_ the guy and he knew she took great pleasure in annoying him.

Tony was worried. He was guessing that the events of last week and gotten to her and she was turning away from everyone—protecting herself from being hurt again. He had urged her not to close herself off, but that's exactly what she went and did. He was going to have to snap her out of it. She needed to be open to others or she would ruin herself. She would be a ticking time bomb of self-destruction.

He sighed, shaking his fist in an attempt to diffuse the stinging as he walked up to his tent. He quickly stopped waving his hand around and subtlety moved it behind him when he saw Liv camped outside of their tent. _Fuck_, _speak of the devil._

"Hey, Liv." He greeted, approaching. She turned to look at him and he saw the storm raging in her eyes. Tony sighed. "You talk to Andrea again?" Olivia had made it clear this past week that she hated Andrea. Absolutely _loathed _her. Frankly he didn't mind though. It was only through her frustration with Andrea that she seemed herself again.

Liv glared up at him—seemingly shaking with anger. _Oh boy, here it comes. _"Ever since her sister died she has turned into a reckless, impulsive, _idiot_ thinkin' she's the shit!" Tony thought that was ironic of her to say. "First she almost killed Daryl, and now Beth could have died! All because of fucking Andrea! You don't give a suicidal person an opportunity to kill themselves! What the fuck's wrong with her? Dale should have left her at the CDC. We'd be better off without her."

Tony winced at her harsh words. She didn't mean them—she was just angry… at least that was what Tony was hoping. "Gee, Liv. Is something bothering you?" He sat down next to her on the gravel.

Liv sent him a withering look. "I keep forgetting. You're team Andrea."

Tony groaned, sick of having this conversation. He flopped down next to her, trying to keep his hand out of her sight. "I'm not taking her side!" He protested and continued when he saw Liv open her mouth to argue. "I'm not! What she did was wrong. You're right. Beth _could have_ died. But she _didn't_. Beth's actually snapped out of her funk thanks to blondie. _She's_ not mad at Andrea."

Liv's glare continued to seer into the side of his head as he stretched out his stinging hand. "You're saying the means justify the ends?" She questioned angrily.

He shrugged. "Let it go, Liv."

He could tell she wanted to say more but she suddenly snapped into herself—as if she just remembered she was being indifferent this week. She suddenly withdrew and the change was visible in her posture. Tony sighed. He almost liked it better when she was angry.

"What have you been up to? Where were you?" Liv said after a while.

"Oh, just helping Rick and Shane out."

"With what? Is it something to do with Randall?" Tony inwardly groaned—he needed a better excuse. This past week Shane and Rick had been focused on Randall. Of course Liv would connect the dots.

"Nah, just did a couple of laps of the perimeters. See if the fence is holding up."

He could feel Liv's stare on him but he wasn't worried. He was a pretty good liar and Liv wasn't usually that good at reading him.

She nodded. "Everything holding up?"

Tony shrugged. "Everything looked to be ship-shape. Carried around a hammer and nails for nothing."

"Really?" Liv asked with suspicion. Tony turned to her and caught her scrutiny. _Fuck_. "Because Glenn said he had had to fix quite a bit of fence boards today when _he_ went around. Didn't mention seeing you, though."

Tony closed his eyes, cursing the delivery boy. "Guess we went at different times then." Liv rolled her eyes and he scratched his cheek nervously.

"What the hell happened to your hand?" Liv screeched suddenly, grabbing his wrist and jerking his hand away from his face. Tony gaped. _How the hell could he be so stupid?_

"Umm." He stammered—at a loss—trying to come up with a good excuse. "Got in a little tuffle with Shh-shit that hurts! Don't _poke_ at it!"

Liv scowled at him, going into her tent and grabbing their first aid bag. He smiled innocently at her as she angrily ripped out bandages and antiseptics. She grabbed his hand again and began roughly dabbing at the cuts with saline solution. He winced each time.

"You're trying to tell me you got in a fight with Shane?" She hissed, rubbing at a particularly tender cut in his knuckles.

"Yeah. He's been a real dick lately." He wasn't lying. Ever since his and Tony's _conversation_, Shane's behaviour seemed to be getting progressively erratic. "Ouch! Easy, Liv!"

"You're telling me you _fought_ with a another member of the group because he's being a dick?" Tony grinned sheepishly. "Bullshit. I'm the one to get into fights. You're the one to try and keep the peace."

"Shit happens, Liv."

Her blue eyes met his with a startling icy chill. She was making him feel like a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. She pressed down on one of his cuts harshly and he yelped out in pain, cursing at her. "Want to tell me what really happened?" She snarled icily.

Tony tripped wrenching his hand out of hers but she held on with a furious grip. "I think—ouch! Shit, Liv!—you already know." She let go and looked at him. He clutched his hand to his chest, trying to shake out the pain. "Bitch."

"You beat up Randall." It wasn't a question. Tony nodded, avoiding her gaze. She may be pretending to have no emotions this week but she was always a sucker for kids. "What the hell is wrong with you? He's just a kid! And injured! You guys have him locked up pretty good—it's not like he's going anywhere!"

"He knew Maggie!" Tony protested, avoiding her swatting hands. "And he watched his group rape people and didn't do anything! Probably enjoyed it."

"He tell you that before or after you hit him?" Liv snarled, raising an eyebrow.

"Rick needed answers Liv!"

Liv stood up, glaring down at him. "So you beat them out of him?"

Tony through out his hands in exasperation. "How would you suggest doing that, then?"

"I don't know—being kind to him?" She said sarcastically. "We did save his life. You could have treated him nicely—he might have offered information up freely."

"He wasn't talking, Liv. Didn't see any other way." Tony grumbled, feeling like he was in the principal's office. He hated Liv's disapproval—it was almost worse than Dad's.

"Randall is just a kid—no shut up, I'm talking" Liv began. "He's a fucking kid. His group was full of crummy people and Randall may have done terrible things—but what else could he do? Try and stop them? They'd _kill_ him. He didn't really have any other choice."

Tony glared at her. "So you're saying this Randall kid is a good person? I don't think so, I mean—"

"I _never _said he's a good person." Liv cut him off, snarling. "I just expected you to be." She threw down a tensor bandage and walked away from him.

Tony felt like she hit him in the gut. Her disappointment in him felt awful. He was supposed to be the big brother. He was supposed to be the role model. This world was messed up—he was switching back to army mode. Black and white thinking.

But what did Liv expect from him? Rick needed answers! He found it hard to be guilty over what he had done to Randall. And he thought it was rather hypocritical for her to defend him. Liv could justify Randall's actions but not Rick's? But he did feel guilty about disappointing Liv.

He had no other choice. Liv was just beginning to learn—but this world was a dog-eat-dog world now. They didn't have the luxury of sitting around trying to gently gain Randall's trust and wean the answers out. They didn't have time to pleasantries. The way things were now—they had to do things quickly to survive. Tony had no other choice. They would have to do things they didn't want to—become the person they feared most. That's just how the world was now. Liv would have to understand.

He shook his head and began treating his own hand—finishing where Liv had left off. He'd make it up to her—she'd understand.

* * *

Liv was furious—which she found to the theme of the week for her. Every little thing seemed to set her off. But she hadn't expected this from Tony. Or maybe she had but had just _hoped _he wouldn't do something like that. She _knew_ he sided more with Shane on the Randall topic. But she never thought he would go as far as beating the kid for an interrogation. But—she supposed—there was a lot she didn't know about her big brother.

He had only finally started discussing what happened to him overseas. Maybe this was soldier-Tony coming out. Is that what was happening to the group? Did the end of days bring out the worst in people? _Stupid question—of course it did._

Liv snorted and kicked stones in her path. She had promised herself she would toughen up. No more crying. No more _caring._ Her first and foremost instinct should be survival. She couldn't dwell on the morals of it—not anymore. But still—Randall was just a kid. Surely there were better methods of getting him to talk? Especially since he was in the process of healing. It was just cruel to kick a man when he's down.

Liv sighed, making her way away from the camp—heading in no particular direction. She had done that a lot this past week—wandering alone. She was trying to keep herself impartial to the group—not get attached. They would all die someday after all and she couldn't let that fact affect her. Not if she wanted to survive. But _every single thing_ was pissing her off. Andrea. Tony. Shane. Rick. Rotters.

She stared hard at the ground—watching rocks go skipping across the grass under her angry stomping. She just kept walking—not caring about where she was going. If the world was normal she'd be off on a bender. She'd gotten into these moods before and the only cure she found was at the bottom of a bottle. Liv called them the _mean reds_—taking a page out of _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. Except she didn't have a place like Tiffany's to make her feel better—she only had liquor.

But she couldn't do that now. Taking a lesson from last week—getting drunk seemed to be a bad idea. But Lord how she missed it. Drinking until she couldn't feel anymore. Drinking until the pain went away. But, drinking to dull the pain was a bad idea. It was catastrophic—self-destructive. _Blah, blah blah. _Some counselor she was.

"If I found a real-life thing that made me feel the way liquor does—why then I'd buy some furniture and name the cat." She muttered to herself, lost in her thoughts. Walking and daydreaming was the closest thing she could get now to being drunk. Calming herself down—getting lost in her thoughts.

"Didja say somethin', Oakley?" A voice called, jolting her out of her thoughts. She snapped her head up—she had walked into Daryl's lonely camp unknowingly. Liv glared down at her feet—cursing them for brining her here. She was trying to get rid of her feelings for Dixon, but that was hard if she kept running into him.

"Liv?" He called again, shooting her an amused smirk.

"Oh. Uh. No." She stuttered, squinting at him through the darkness. He was sitting on a log, poking at his fire. "Sorry. I was just walking around. Didn't mean to… uh, _bother_ you." _Or come here at all._

She made a move to turn and scuttle away but stopped when Daryl continued. "Right, I forgot. Yer avoidin' me."

"No! I'm not avoid—" She immediately protested but stopped at the look Daryl shot her. "Yeah. Maybe a little." She finally admitted, walking over, defeated, at Daryl's beckoning. _Might as well face the music._ She sat next to him and stared at the fire—ignoring the half-skinned squirrel he was working on.

"Somethin' I did?" Liv could feel his gaze on the side of her head. "_Yer_ the one that kissed me."

Liv had to smile at that and she looked down to hide her grin. _Fuck. This was the reason she was avoiding him. _"I'm avoiding everyone." She tried after a moment, stone faced.

"But 'specially me." She didn't say anything. Since when was Daryl able to read her like a book? "Why's that?"

Liv stayed silent for a moment, debating whether to talk to him. It did have its benefits. Although she had promised herself to toughen up, she wasn't one to internalize her feelings—they always came out like an explosion. Talking to Dixon may help sort out her spiraling emotions—and Tony was not an option at the moment. Plus, Daryl wasn't one to go around gossiping to the others. Whatever she told him he would keep. And he wouldn't try to fix her. He wouldn't pity her.

But every second longer she spent here the more attached she would get to him. Liv already liked him way more than she should—she couldn't deal with that now. But she found it harder and harder to will herself to walk away. It was nice sitting here next to him. Nothing was expected of her.

"Liv?" And there he went calling her by her nickname. It sent shivers up her spine.

"It's nothing." She said after a moment.

"It's _nothin_'?" He said, a tone of disbelief, letting out a harsh breath of air. "Wanna know what I think? I think you're avoidin' everyone cuz you're 'fraid you're gonna lose us."

Liv looked at him blankly. "Yeah. I thought that was rather obvious."

He just smirked, finishing up skinning his squirrel and moving onto a second. "I also think you've been avoidin' _me_ cuz you like me maybe just a lil' bit too much."

Olivia felt her cheeks heat up and she suddenly forgot everything but the man sitting in front of her, _teasing_ her. "Oh? That's what you think?"

"Well, you _did _kiss me."

Liv rolled her eyes. "I didn't hear you complaining." To that, Daryl raised a suggestive eyebrow and Liv slapped him on the arm as he chuckled. "Shut up. I told you, if you expect another kiss outta me it's all up to you."

Daryl didn't say anything, just shook his head, smirking—although Liv could see the slight blush colouring his cheeks—to her amusement. She watched in silence as he stuck the squirrel carcasses into the fire. It was then that she noticed her anger was gone—that "The Mean Reds" weren't as intense. _Daryl had distracted her, the bastard. _

"Want a squirrel?" He said after a bit, gesturing to the meat simmering in the fire.

Liv made a face. "Nah. I'm okay."

"C'mon. You haven' ate much this past week. I'll share some o' my Southern Comfort with ya if ya get this down."

Liv blinked. He had been watching her? Did this mean he actually _cared_ about her? _Fuck._ She was in way over her head. She wasn't used to others looking out for her. She wanted to decline, she didn't have much of an appetite anyway. Especially not for _squirrel_.

But the temptation of liquor.

"Alright." She hesitantly agreed, watching as he rotated the meat in the fire. "Tony's not going to be to happy with you. He'd skin me for even _thinking_ about drinking."

"I don' really give a _shit_ what Tony thinks." He grunted back. "No offence."

Liv remembered her previous anger and let out a grunt of agreement. "Yeah, fuck Tony."

Daryl rotated his stick and glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "That what got yer panties in a bunch?"

Liv scowled. "Yeah. Tony's an asshole." Daryl didn't say anything. He felt like he was becoming a therapist or something. Maybe he should start charging… "You know, he interrogated Randall today? And by interrogate I mean beat up? For fuck's sake, Randall's just a kid."

"The kid wasn't talkin'." Daryl said after a bit. He should have known that's what got her all riled up. She was strangely protective of the kid.

"You _knew?"_ Olivia accused, glaring at him.

Daryl grunted. "Calm down. Yer brother did what he had to."

"How can you _defend _him?" Liv started. "Randall's just—"

"A kid. Yeah. You've been singing the same song all week, Oakley." Daryl interrupted. "You seem to be forgettin' it's the end of the world. We're livin' day-to-day. Marshall Law and all that bullshit."

Liv didn't say anything, glowering at him through the smoke. He just glared back. After a moment, she shook her head, standing up again and making to storm off. How could he _agree _with Tony?

"Sit yer ass back down, Oakley." She spun around to snap at him; to scream bloody murder at him. "Shut yer trap for one minute. Christ, I though _you_ were supposed to be the therapist."

Liv ground her teeth angrily. "I'm a counselor not a therapist."

Daryl glared at her. "You're struggling with the morals of it all. Fuckin' grow up, would ya? This Randall guys not as young as you think he is and not nearly as innocent. He knows about us. He's a piece of shit. If things were normal you could get pissy. But it's us or them now."

He had a point, Olivia conceded, and hated him for it. She still didn't like it. Was this another one of the things she was going to have to _tolerate? _She didn't want to. She had worked to hard to save Randall—she had thought he was going to join their group.

"'Sides, you didn't here him go on about that other group of his." Daryl shook his head and spat—disgusted. "Violent raids, gang rapes. Sadistic fuckers."

"Well, what was he supposed to do?" She snapped viciously. Daryl let out a breath of frustration. "Don't get me wrong, I hate a bystander. But you said it your fucking self. It's the end of the world. He did what he had to do to survive!"

"Yeah, but that's not who we are. We're made of better stuff."

Liv clenched her fists and let out a disbelieving laugh. "We're made of better stuff?" She hissed dangerously, glaring. "_We're made of better stuff? _So _that's_ why Tony beat him?"

Daryl's mouth gaped for a moment before frowning angrily. "Grow up. Fuck, so much fucking _drama_ with you. Can you ever have a conversation without yelling?"

"Oh, you're one to talk! You're the one who threw a tantrum and moved your camp away from everyone else to avoid getting attached." Liv let out a sarcastic laugh, mocking. "Big, tough, Daryl; scared of a little feelings."

Daryl stood up menacingly, pointing a finger menacingly in Liv's face. "You don't know _nothin_'! 'Sides, _you're_ the one going out and getting drunk without tellin' anyone, then throwing some kind of fit and actin' like you're tough shit. You're just a scared little girl."

Olivia didn't back down. "Yeah, well you're just a mouth breathing redneck who won't admit that he actually _cares_ about others."

"Bitch." Daryl snarled and then paused with a strange look on his face.

"Asshole."

Olivia continued to glare at Daryl, who was no longer looking angry, but amused. "…Mouth breathing redneck?"

Olivia blinked, confused for a second before her angry words caught up with her and she scowled. "Oh, shut up."

"Of all the things people have called me," Daryl started chuckling and despite Liv's anger she had to marvel at the sound. She didn't think he knew _how_ to laugh. "Mouth breathing redneck has gotta be a first."

"No. Stop laughing." Olivia snapped, following him as he walked over to his tent and began shuffling through his bags. "Stop it, I'm mad at you!"

"Yeah, what's new?" He grunted, crouching next to his bag. "You're always mad at somethin'."

"Yeah, well can you blame—" Daryl interrupted her by shoving a bottle of Southern Comfort in her arms. She looked down at it blankly.

"Peace offerin'." He muttered before stalking back to sit by the fire, again.

Liv's gaze flickered between the bottle and Daryl—utterly confused. _Weren't they just fighting?_ She was used to Daryl not stepping down… and now he was _laughing?_

"You just gonna stand there?" He asked, peering at her. Olivia gripped the bottle in her hands, staring unsurely at him before walking hesitantly and sitting at the fire across from him. She stared at him hesitantly. "What?"

"Weren't we just fighting?" Liv muttered, turning her gaze to the bottle and picking at the label.

Daryl snorted, tossing a cooked squirrel over at her, making her jump. "I'm being the bigger man. Y'see, I'm getting to learn that you fight with people to avoid feelin' vulnerable."

Liv felt anger well up in her chest but she bit her lip to stop herself from doing anything. From proving Dixon right. Instead, she picked up the cooked squirrel and began picking at it. "I'm just mad you had to go and ruin a perfectly good argument… " She muttered.

"I shut you up by giving you alcohol. You call that _ruining_ an argument?"

"I _call_ that one heck of an apology." She stopped and tried to swallow her anger for him. _Distance yourself, Liv_. She was tired, emotionally. She didn't _want _to be angry all of the time. But she just couldn't cope with all that was happening. And she didn't understand how everyone else seemed to be.

And try as she might, it was hard to stay angry with Daryl. With Tony it was easy! Liv was pretty sure her brother's main purpose in life was making her angry. But Daryl… Daryl and her were quite similar, and he had a way of putting things into perspective for her—even though he didn't say much. Maybe he was right about Randall. Maybe he was right about her.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Olivia looked up and met Daryl's gaze. She bit her lip, debating. Talking did help—that's what she told her clients, anyway. It would help her get out her anger in a more positive way. And Daryl wouldn't judge her. He would just listen. She returned her gaze to her squirrel.

"I'm… just so… _angry_." She mumbled eventually. "Angry at Tony… Rick… Sophia… Carol… you… _me_… This whole fucked up world and what it's doing to people…"

"You're still stuck on Rick killin' those men? Cuz the way I—"

"Tony and Dave? No, I don't care about them. They're dead, and I understand now there wasn't much choice in that decision. Us or them." Liv sighed. "I'm having a hard time _coping._ It… _scares_ me how easy Rick was able to… do that."

Daryl didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. "Guess that's what makes him a good leader."

Liv nodded, she had been thinking that too. Rick had been able to make a quick decision where she was not. He made a decision on what was the best for the group—and did it. They'd all be dead if Liv was running the show.

"It's just… I thought the Walkers were the monsters. Like a horror story come to life. I never expected for us to become…. _We're_ the monsters."

"We're _survivors._" Daryl said eventually and Liv looked up to find him gazing mournfully into the fire. "We got to do what it takes to survive—morals are out the door. And there's no way in _hell_ I'm gonna let one of those fuckin' geeks take me out."

Liv let out a chuckle. She grabbed the Southern Comfort and opened it, taking a heavy swig from it. "Guess I should think of Jared and Tony. I mean, what I would do for them. To make sure they're ok."

Daryl shrugged, eyeing the liquor and Liv tossed it over to him. He took a swig and wiped his mouth off. "Whatever gets you through the night."

Liv nodded—losing herself to her thoughts once again as they shared the liquor. Whatever gets her through the night.

* * *

**So... my bad on it taking so long... had a bad case of the mean reds myself...**

**But here it is... I'm satisfied with bits and pieces of it... probs ended abruptly, but oh well... **

**I'd appreciate some feed back! When I'm completely unmotivated, I look at that wonderful feedback and it turns on a switch in my heart...**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Delaney :)**


End file.
